SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Trafficked Women

Peter Bone: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance he has issued to the Crown Prosecution Service on the provision of witness protection for women trafficked into the UK for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Mike O'Brien: Guidance issued to Crown prosecutors on how to support and protect trafficked victims at court includes applications for special measures, applying for reporting restrictions to protect victims' identities and applying for the use of live evidence to be given from abroad.
	Out of court process, where there are concerns over safety, a police risk assessment for protection can include mechanisms such as panic alarms, telephone links to the police station or re-location.

Law Officers

David Taylor: To ask the Solicitor-General what measures are in place to assess the Law Officers' maintenance of the public interest in dispensing legal advice to the Government.

Mike O'Brien: In fulfilling their role as the Government's chief legal advisers, the Law Officers give frank, impartial advice based on their own professional judgment. The Law Officers are answerable to Parliament and the courts for their advice. It is clearly in the public interest for the Government to receive such advice in order to ensure that their actions are legally sound and in accordance with the rule of law.

Soldier Prosecutions

Ben Wallace: To ask the Solicitor-General on which occasions since 1997 he received correspondence from the Secretary of State for Defence on prosecution of soldiers for war crimes or serious offences while on operations.

Mike O'Brien: Correspondence from the Secretary of State for Defence to this office on prosecution of soldiers for war crimes or serious offences while on operations is not centrally recorded and to retrieve this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Fraud

Dawn Butler: To ask the Solicitor-General what proposals he has for the prevention and prosecution of fraud.

Mike O'Brien: The Government have today published a response to the public consultation on the Fraud Review. The review identified that in many cases fraud is a preventable offence. The National Fraud Strategic Authority will have as one of its aims to raise awareness among the public and to promote best practice in fraud detection and prevention.
	The Fraud Review also made a number of recommendations designed to facilitate the prosecution of fraud offences. These included: the establishment of a financial court jurisdiction; specialist training for judges; extended sentencing powers for the Crown court; and the introduction of a framework for a plea negotiations. We will be establishing a study to consider the detailed costs and benefits of introducing a financial court jurisdiction. We are also establishing a working party to look at the issue of plea bargaining.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Departments: Databases

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what databases are controlled by the House authorities; and what percentage of the data in each database is estimated to be inaccurate or out of date.

Nick Harvey: The Parliamentary ICT service (PICT) supports around 146 live databases across both Houses of Parliament. This includes corporate applications (in areas such as finance, HR, procurement, catering and facilities management), procedural applications (covering the legislative, scrutiny and debate functions of Parliament) and knowledge applications (covering the research and public information functions).
	The number given does not include locally-based databases, simple Access databases or test, back-up and development databases. Individual Departments and offices are responsible for data quality and they put appropriate measures in place to manage the quality of data and their being kept up to date.

Portcullis House

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what progress has been made on improving signage in Portcullis House.

Nick Harvey: The Parliamentary Estates Directorate is in the process of appointing the consultant architect to carry out the next phase of work and to liaise with the architects of Portcullis House, Hopkins and Partners.
	The existing signage on the 1(st) floor of Portcullis House has been surveyed to assess its problems and a brief has been formulated for the consultant architects to work to.
	The programme of works to install new signage is scheduled to be undertaken during the 2007-08 financial year.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Members' Constituency Work

Roger Gale: To ask the Leader of the House if he will bring forward proposals to bring hon. Members' correspondence relating to constituency case work under the ambit of Parliamentary proceedings for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Jack Straw: The Government recognise the need for hon. Members' constituency work to be able to be conducted with appropriate confidentiality. The Government are considering the case for further guidance to public authorities as to how the exemptions should be applied in the case of hon. Members' constituency correspondence. As the hon. Member will be aware, the right hon. Member for Penrith and the Border (David Maclean) has brought forward a private Member's bill which would amend the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to create a single exemption to cover hon. Members' correspondence.
	The Government will continue to listen to the views of hon. Members on the best way forward to ensure that constituency correspondence is given the necessary protection.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Cultural Heritage: Protection

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the number of likely appeals resulting from changes in the heritage designation system.

David Lammy: The proposed new designation system set out in the White Paper, "Heritage Protection for the 21(st) Century", will be more efficient, understandable and accessible, with improved information sharing, greater public involvement and new opportunities for consultation. We cannot give a firm estimate of the number of appeals as part of a system that has not yet been implemented. However, improved information sharing and consultation should reduce the need for appeal.

English Heritage: Finance

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the resources required by English Heritage to carry out its responsibilities as proposed in the "Heritage Protection for the 21st Century" White Paper; and what resources will be provided by her Department to enable those responsibilities to be met.

David Lammy: English Heritage has supplied DCMS with a detailed analysis of their likely costs to undertake their responsibilities as proposed in the White Paper "Heritage Protection for the 21st Century". Their analysis of these costs has been factored in to the DCMS submission as part of the current Spending Review process.

Historic Buildings: Official Visits

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many properties represented by the Historic Houses Association  (a) she,  (b) the Minister for Sport,  (c) the Minister for Culture and  (d) the Minister for Media and Tourism visited in an official capacity in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: As Minister for Culture I have visited two properties represented by the Historic Houses Association (HHA) in an official capacity since I was appointed—Holkham Hall, Norfolk and Burghley House, Lincolnshire. I also attended the launch of the HHA's education service in 2006 and spoke at the 2006 annual general meeting. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport and my hon. Friend the Minister for Creative Industries and Tourism have not yet had the opportunity to visit any HHA properties in an official capacity. We do not have data for previous Ministers for visits to these properties in the last five years.

Historic Buildings: Official Visits

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many properties  (a) owned and  (b) managed by the National Trust (i) she, (ii) the Minister for Sport, (iii) the Minister for Culture and (iv) the Minister for Media and Tourism visited in an official capacity in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has visited the Stonehenge historic landscape, which is owned by the National Trust, in an official capacity. As Minister for Culture I have visited Tyntesfield, near Bristol, Woodchester Mansion, Stroud, where the park is owned by the Trust, and the new National Trust offices at Swindon. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport and my hon. Friend the Minister for Creative Industries and Tourism have not yet had the opportunity to make official visits to properties owned or managed by the Trust. We do not have data for previous Ministers for visits to these properties in the last five years.

Historic Buildings: Official Visits

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many properties  (a) owned and  (b) managed by English Heritage (i) she, (ii) the Minister for Sport, (iii) the Minister for Culture and (iv) the Minister for Media and Tourism visited in an official capacity in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) on 1 February 2007,  Official Report, column 4l8W.

Osborne House

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on the future of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to seek to repeal part of the Osborne Estate Act 1902 on the convalescent wing.

David Lammy: We are exploring the options for repealing part of the Osborne Estate Act 1902, which will enable English Heritage to bring into use the wing previously used as a convalescent home.
	Any proposals English Heritage develop will be subject to consultation with the local community, and will go through the usual planning procedures.

Sportsmatch

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what level of funding will be available to Sportsmatch over the next three years.

Richard Caborn: Sport England provided £3.675 million in funding to Sportsmatch in 2006-07, and the same amount has been allocated for 2007-08.
	Subsequent years' funding, as with all other funding allocations for my Department, are subject to the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.

Sportsmatch

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of the staff employed by Sportsmatch will continue to be employed under the new structure.

Richard Caborn: Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 Sport England and the Institute for Sports Sponsorship are consulting with the seven Sportsmatch staff members with the working assumption that those seven members of staff will transfer over to Sport England on 1 April 2007.

Sportsmatch

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the future of Sportsmatch.

Richard Caborn: As announced on 13 February by Sport England, the Sportsmatch scheme will be managed by Sport England from 1 April 2007. The intention is to build on its past success, with a strengthened regional focus.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1070-1W, on Afghanistan, how many undelivered urgent operational requirements since January 2006 related to helicopters; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Since the start of planning for deployment into southern Afghanistan 23 UORs related to theatre entry modifications to current helicopters in Afghanistan have been approved but not fully delivered to theatre. An initial operating capability has been delivered to theatre for eight of the 23. An additional 10 UORs have been approved and fully delivered. These figures are correct as at 1 March 2007.

Afghanistan: Army

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of retention rates among the Afghan national army.

Adam Ingram: Since 2001, the Afghan national army (ANA) training programme under a US lead has trained approximately 32,000 soldiers. Members of the ANA are required to re-enlist after an initial three-year contract and to date approximately 42 per cent. of personnel have re-enlisted at the three-year point. The US-led training mission has already identified measures designed to improve the level of re-enlistment, including asking NATO to deliver more mentoring teams to partner the ANA, and is establishing plans to implement a more sustainable force generation cycle.

Armed Forces: Children

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1161W, on armed forces: children, which internal welfare agencies are available to give support and assistance to children of service personnel killed or injured while on operations; and what funding they have received from his Department in the last five years.

Derek Twigg: Each of the services is responsible for the co-ordination of its own welfare organisations such as the Navy Personnel and Families Organisations, Army Welfare Organisation and the Royal Air Force Community Support. The support offered covers a wide remit and is provided by the chain of command as well as a host of dedicated welfare providers including contracted organisations such as the SSAFA (Forces Help), WRVS and Defence Medical Welfare Services.
	Over the past five years approximately £123 million of funding has been provided to fund dedicated welfare support to the three services as a whole, which of course extends well beyond the support of children of personnel killed or injured on operations.

BAE Systems

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason a security pass was issued to BAE Systems executive Julian Scopes by his Department; when the security pass was originally issued; and to which premises Mr. Scopes is given access with this security pass.

Derek Twigg: Ministry of Defence security policy allows for establishment passes to be issued to contractors who make frequent visits to specific MOD sites to meet business requirements. In accordance with this policy, Mr. Scopes was issued with a contractor pass in December 2005. This pass, which expired on 31 December 2006, allowed him access to Main Building, the Old War Office and St. George's Court.

Bombs

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cluster bombs have been stockpiled by the UK, broken down by type.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to my answer on 10 October 2006,  Official Report, column 656W, to the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey).

Bowman Combat Radio System

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what increments are planned for the Bowman communications system once initial conversion is completed.

Adam Ingram: Following completion, currently expected in 2008, of the Bowman conversion and fielding programme, we envisage a periodic capability release programme providing both capability enhancements and maintenance. This programme will be informed by current validation work on the delivery of deferred capabilities.

Correspondence: Members

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Minister of State for the armed forces to reply to the letter of 31 January from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan on his constituent, Mr. N. Thom of Mintlaw.

Derek Twigg: I wrote to the hon. Member on 6 March 2007.

Defence Export Services Organisation: Freedom of Information

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2007,  Official Report, column 960W, on the Defence Export Services Organisation: freedom of information, what the  (a) brief fees and  (b) refresher rates are for (i) Jonathan Crow QC and (ii) Kate Gallafent.

Adam Ingram: Counsel are paid an hourly rate for all their work as follows:
	Jonathan Crow: £220 per hour
	Kate Gallafent: £100 per hour

Housing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many formal complaints on the condition of military housing were made by residents in each of the last 10 years.

Derek Twigg: The figures given in the table represent all housing complaints received for the years from 2002 to 2006.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2002 409 
			 2003 327 
			 2004 485 
			 2005 369 
			 2006 740 
		
	
	Records of complaints for years prior to 2002 have been routinely destroyed.
	The increase in complaints in 2006 is thought to reflect the introduction of the Housing Prime Contract and the initial problems with the service being delivered.

Iraq: Peace Keeping Operations

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether all Mastiffs delivered to the Iraqi theatre of operations will be fitted with slatted armour.

Adam Ingram: I will not comment on specific protection measures for reasons of operational security.

Lynx Helicopters

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) Mark 3 and  (b) Mark 8 Lynx helicopters are (i) in service, (ii) under repair and (iii) being cannibalised for parts; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: On 1 March 2007, the details for the Royal Navy's Lynx helicopter fleet were as follows:
	
		
			  Helicopter type  Departmental fleet  In service  Under repair  Other 
			 Lynx Mk 3 37 25 6 6 
			 Lynx Mk 8 36 27 5 4 
		
	
	"In Service" aircraft are those in the Forward Fleet and available to the Front Line and training units. Aircraft "Under Repair" are those in the Depth Fleet which are undergoing planned routine depth maintenance. "Other" aircraft are those accident damaged and undergoing investigation with the Flight Safety Accident Investigation Centre, undergoing trials, awaiting disposal, or in storage.
	One Lynx Mk 3 in storage is currently subject to controlled cannibalisation to support depth maintenance. Carefully managed and controlled cannibalisation is also carried out in the Forward Fleet as part of normal business to ensure the required number of aircraft are available to squadrons. These cannibalised aircraft are routinely returned to service when the necessary spare parts become available.

Navy: Deployment

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many warships are fully operational in the Royal Navy; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Royal Navy has 74 surface warships in the operating cycle, though those undergoing maintenance or refit are held at lower readiness for operations. In my letter of 6 March to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis), I set out the readiness policy for Royal naval ships, and listed those ships that are at lower readiness. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

Nimrod Aircraft

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the safety of Nimrod aircraft.

Adam Ingram: RAF Nimrod aircraft are designed and certified to strict airworthiness and safety standards. The structural integrity of the aircraft is maintained by adherence to the procedures detailed within military airworthiness regulations. The review of airworthiness and safety of the Nimrod fleet is a routine and continual activity that is undertaken by both the Defence Logistics Organisation and the Front Line Command. It includes a comprehensive maintenance and repair process that covers routine flight servicing before and after each flight.

Nimrod Aircraft

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times the Nimrod fleet has been grounded since September 2006.

Adam Ingram: On 21 February 2007, after the discovery of dents in fuel lines, Nimrod MR2 flying was suspended as a precautionary measure. Aircraft were cleared to fly again after checks of the fuel lines proved satisfactory with the first serviceable aircraft operating on 24 February 2007.

Red Arrows

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at which air shows and other events the Red Arrows appeared in each of the last five years.

Adam Ingram: The Royal Air Force Acrobatic Team (RAFAT), popularly known as the Red Arrows, participated in the following air shows and events from 2002 to 2006:
	
		
			  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Akrotiri Families Day CBF Investiture Ceremony—Cyprus King Abdullah Airbase—Jordan Amman Marka Airport—Jordan Jordan 2006 
			 Giornata Azzurra Airshow 50(th) Anniversary of Patrouille de France—Salon de Provence RAF Akrotiri Families Day RAF Akrotiri Families Day Aire 06 Spanish Air Force Open Day at San Javier AFB (Spain) 
			 Country Sports Show / Game Fair—Portadown RCDS Marham Visit 70th Anniversary FAF 04—Cognac—France Jersey—60(th) Anniversary of Liberation Isle of Man TT Festival at Douglas Bay 
			 Rochefort Airshow—France Llandudno Regional Tri Service Recruting Town Show 205 BFJT Graduation—Linton- on-Ouse RAF Aerobatic Team 40(th) Anniversary RAF Cosford Air Show 
			 Biggin Hill International Air Fair—Kent Southend Airshow Beaumaris Show Enniskillen Airshow British Grand Prix 
			 Southend Airshow—Southend RAF Lossiemouth Friends and Families Day Blackpool Sky Show 17(R)Sqn 90(th) Anniversary/17(R)Sqn New Typhoon OEU Royal Netherlands Air Force—Leeuwarden 
			 Golden Jubilee Families Day—RAF Benson Isle of Man TT Races—Ramsey Southend Airshow RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss Combined Families and Friends Day Margate Airshow 
			 Peel TT Races—Isle of Man Isle of Man TT Races—Douglas Portrush Airshow 2004—Northern Ireland Abbeyshrule Airshow Kemble Classic Jets Airshow 
			 European Air Force Academies Commandants Isle of Man TT Races Peel Ramsey Isle of Man TT Races The Ulster VE Day Air Show—Newtownards—N.I. Midnight Summer Festival Air Display—Kauhava (EFKA)—Finland 
			 10(th) Anniversary of the Adjutant Generals Corps Biggin Hill International Air Fair Douglas Isle of Man TT Races Llandudno 2005 The Salthill Air Show (Eire) 
			 21(st) Signal Regiment Open Day Nigel Mansell UK Youth Golf Classic—Woodbury 250(th) Anniversary of Royal and Ancient Golf Club Southend Airshow 2005 Tain Gala 
			 Cosford Airshow Whitehaven Maritime Festival Cumbria European Air Group Steering Group Meeting RAF Valley Families Day/90(th) Anniversary 19(R)Sqn. 50(th) Anniversary of SAR/ 45(th) Anniversary 4FTS Scottish Fair at Scone Palace—Scone Palace Perth 
			 The Weston Park International Model Air Show Helensburgh (Faslane) Fair Rolls Royce Celebrations—East Midlands Airport Faslane Fair RAF Waddington International Air Show 
			 Kemble Airday—Cirencester Classic Jet Air Show Kemble RAF Cosford CVHT Charitable Fund Raising Concert—Dunsfold The Nigel Mansell UK Youth Golf Classic 
			 RAF Kinloss Family and Friends Day Royal Netherlands 50(th) Anniversary—Twenthe Dutch Open Day—Volkel Airbase Isle of Man TT Festival RAF Wittering 90(th) Anniversary Families Day 
			 Nancey-Ochey Airshow—France Evreux Airshow—France Faslane Fair Ramsey Sprint Day TT Festival Goodwood Festival of Speed 
			 BAE Systems Brough Families Day—Yorkshire Fistral Beach Newquay Kemble Air Day FCCLA 60(th) VE Day Commemoration Celebrations Blackpool Veterans/Service Awareness Week 
			 RAF Waddington at Home Day Air Power Zeltweg Austria Golowan Festival Penzance—Cornwall Isle of Man TT Races RNAS Yeovilton International Air Day 
			 Airborne Forces Day Yorkshire RAF Waddington at Home Day Goodwood Festival of Speed Launch of Portishead Carnival RNAS Culdrose International Air Day 
			 Tain Gala Tain Gala RAF Waddington International Air Show RAF Cosford Air Show CFSA Reunion and RAF Cranwell Families Day 
			 RAF Golf Championships—Trevose Golf Club Constantine Bay Salthill Airshow—Eire Tain Gala Royal Netherlands Air Force Open Day—Gilze Rijen The Royal International Air Tattoo—Flying 
			 Newquay Seafront Display RAF Boulmer 50(th) Anniversary Families Day RAF Lyneham Station Families Day Margate Airshow World Youth Sailing Championships—Portland 
			 Chichester Festivities Central Flying School (CFS) Annual Reunion and CFS Arbroath Seafront Spectacular Kemble Air Day—Flying Display RNLI Lifeboat Week—Lyme Regis 
			 RNLAF Open Day—Gilze-Rijen/Breda Goodwood Festival Speed Scottish Fair—Scone Palace Air Power 2005—Zeltweg—Austria Sanicole International Airshow (Belgium) 
			 Manx Festival of Aviation-Jurby Wirral Show The Salthill Airshow Whitehaven Maritime Festival—Open Air Family Event Weston-Super-Mare Seaside Airshow/Helicopter Show 
			 Plymouth Armed Forces Show East Fortune Festival of Flight-Scotland C.F.S. Annual Reunion—Cranwell Salthill Airshow Galway Bay—Eire Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival 
			 Inverness Highland Games Kidwelly Carnival Plymouth Armed Forces Show Trafalgar 200 Portsmouth—Son and Lumiere RAF Wyton Families Day 
			 Goodwood Festival of Speed Royal International Air Tattoo East Fortune Air Show Tain Gala Sunderland International Airshow 
			 East Fortune -Museum of Flight—Edinburgh Station Civic Day—RAF Cranwell Kidwelly Carnival Wales Scottish Fair Windermere Airshow and Community Festival 
			 RNAS Culdrose Air Day British Grand Prix British Grand Prix RAF Waddington International Airshow Red Arrows Bournemouth Seafront Show 
			 Farnborough International JSCSC Graduation -Swindon Royal International Air Tattoo /Battle/Entente Cordiale/D-Day Kidwelly Carnival RAF Cottesmore Families Day 
			 Winter Gardens Royal Parade -Weston-Super-Mare Sunderland International Airshow Farnborough International Airshow British Grand Prix Whitby Regatta 
			 ACSC Graduation Ceremony—JSCSC Llanidloes Air Day Graduation Day JSCSC—Swindon Air Display to Commemorate VE/VJ Day—Blackpool 400th Anniversary of the First Charter of Dover 
			 Llanidloes Air Day—Wales Lyme Regis Lifeboat Week Llanidloes Air Day Central Flying School Reunion—Cranwell Fowey Royal Regatta 
			 RAF Shawbury Families Day Weston-super-Mare Seafront Air Show RNLI Lyme Regis Lifeboat Week—Dorset RAF Wittering/RAF Cottesmore Families Day RAF Lyneham Families Day 
			 Sunderland International Airshow Station Families Day—RAF Shawbury Sunderland International Airshow Royal International Air Tattoo Weymouth Carnival 
			 RAF Marham Families Day Music in the Air Middle Wallop—Hants Red Arrows Families Day RNAS Culdrose International Air Day Cromer Carnival 
			 Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival Windermere Community Festival Weston-Super-Mare Seafront Airshow JSC and SC Advanced Command and Staff Course Dawlish Carnival Airshow 
			 Kielder Forest Festival Reach for the Sky-Blenheim Palace RAF Marham Families Day Llanidloes Air Day Airbourne—The Eastbourne International Air Show 
			 Music in the Air-Middle Wallop Airbourne—The Eastbourne International Air Show Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival Windermere Festival—A Weekend With The RAF Torbay Royal Regatta 
			 European Ferrari Festival Dawlish Carnival RAF Shawbury Families Day Arbroath Sea Front Spectacular Aberystwyth Corporate Communications and Careers Information Event 
			 Dawlish Carnival Week—Devon Bournemouth Seafront Show Windermere Festival Weston-Super-Mare Seafront Show Sidmouth Regatta 
			 Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race Finish—Portsmouth Sidmouth Regatta Kielder Forest Festival Lowestoft Seafront Air Festival Port of Dartmouth 162(nd) Royal Regatta 
			 Airbourne—The Eastbourne International Air Show Cromer Carnival Scandia Cowes Week RAF Marham Families Day Clacton Airshow 
			 Bournemouth Seafront Show Weymouth Carnival Airbourne—The Eastbourne International Air Show RAF Shawbury Families Day Dunsfold Wings and Wheels 
			 Barrow Festival of the Sea Fowey Royal Regatta Bournemouth Seafront Airshow Sunderland Airshow Silloth (Cumbria) Carnival 
			 Sidmouth Regatta—Devon Clacton Airshow Cromer Carnival 2004—Norfolk Bournemouth Seafront Show Hoylake Lifeboat Station Open Day 
			 Weymouth Carnival—Dorset Opening Ceremony of The World Microlight Championships Weymouth Carnival Airbourne—The Eastbourne International Air Show RAFAT Families Day 
			 Clacton Air Show—Clacton Yorkshire Airshow Dawlish Carnival—Devon 'Fly to the Past'—Blenheim Palace Northern Ireland Air Spectacular—Portrush 
			 Fowey Royal Regatta and Carnival Week 200(th) Anniversary of Hoylake Lifeboat and Open Day Fowey Royal Regatta RAF Lyneham Families Day Southport Airshow and Military Show 
			 Canadian International Air Show Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta RAF Cottesmore Families Day Cromer Carnival Guernsey Battle of Britain Air Display (RAFA) 
			 Nova Scotia International Air Show Torbay Royal Regatta The Yorkshire Airshow—Elvington Weymouth Carnival Jersey International Airshow 
			 RAFA Jersey International Airshow RAF Marham Families Day 25(th )Anniversary of Red Arrows Flying Hawk/30(th )Anniversary of Hawk Dawlish Seafront Airshow and Carnival RAF Leuchars Battle of Britain At Home Day—Flying 
			 RAFA Guernsey Airshow Radom Air Show—Poland Sidmouth Regatta Sidmouth Regatta BAE Systems (Brough) Family Day 
			 RAF Leuchars Battle of Britain at Home Day Station Families Day—RAF St. Mawgan Torbay Royal Regatta Yorkshire Air Show—Elvington 6(th )NATO Day in Ostrava (Czech Republic) 
			 Morecambe Heritage Gala Great Ormand Street Hospital/Bishopsgate Charity Clay Pigeon Shoot—Reading The Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta RAF Cottesmore Families Day Giornata Azzurra—Pratica di Mare—Italy 
			 Malta International Airshow Southport Airshow 2003 Clacton Airshow—Essex The 160(th )Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta Roland Garros de Cholet—France 
			 Great North Run—Newcastle upon Tyne Duxford Airshow The Centenary Eye Show Clacton Airshow Great North Run 
			 Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia  Caernarfon Airshow The International Air Show Radom Poland Isle of Man TT Race at Peel 
			 Langkawi, Malaysia RAF Leuchars Battle of Britain At Home Day Hoylake Lifeboat Station Open Day Hoylake Lifeboat Station Open Day Goa, India 
			 Bangkok, Thailand Morecambe Heritage Gala RAF St. Mawgan Families Day RAF Benson Families Day Muskat, Oman 
			 Hindon (Delhi), India  Duxford Airshow Biggin Hill International Air Fair Abu Dhabi, UAE 
			 Muscat, Oman  90(th) Anniversary of the Swiss Air Force -Payerne -Switzerland Battle of Britain Air Display Guernsey 45(th) Anniversary "Frecce Tricolori"—Italy Bahrain, Bahrain 
			 Dubai, UAE  RAFA Jersey International Airshow Display Over Greek Ministry of Defence Athens and Dharhan, Saudi Arabia 
			 Abu Dhabi, UAE  Southport Airshow and Military Tattoo—Lancashire Swiss Futures and Options Association Conference Athens, Greece 
			 Tabuk, Saudi Arabia  RAF Leuchars Battle of Britain at Home Day RAF Leuchars Battle of Britain at Home Day  
			 Giza, Egypt  Morecambe Heritage Gala Southport Airshow and Military Show  
			   Biggin Hill Battle of Britain Weekend—Kent Morecambe Heritage Gala and Air Display  
			   BUPA Great North Run Jersey International Airshow  
			Guernsey Battle Of Britain Air Display  
			BUPA Great North Run  
			RNAS Yeovilton International Air Day  
			Malta International Airshow  
			  Note:  The official display season for the RAF AT is from May to October every year. In 2002 and 2006 the Team additionally participated in out-of-season overseas tours.

Satellites

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the potential cost of UK armed forces taking part in the Blue Force Tracker programme;
	(2)  what funding he plans to allocate to the Blue Force Tracker programme being developed by the United States military.

Adam Ingram: Free standing Blue Force tracking systems are available largely off the shelf using US based technology and are deployed on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to supplement the initial capability provided by Bowman ComBAT (Common Battlefield Application Toolset), Infrastructure and Platform Battlefield Information System Application (CIP). In the longer term we are looking mainly to more advanced versions of Bowman CIP and to Tactical Data Links to provide positional information. The joint US-UK Coalition Blue Force Situational Awareness demonstrator is helping to develop ways of exchanging data between Bowman CIP and US Blue Force tracking systems. It is too early to say what the resource implications would be.

TRANSPORT

A21: Pembury

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic  (a) accidents and  (b) fatalities have occurred at the A21 junction with Henwood Green Road, Pembury in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The following table gives the Highways Agency's record of road traffic accidents and casualties, including fatalities that have occurred at the A21 junction with Henwood Green Road, Pembury in each year since 1997.
	
		
			Number of casualties 
			   Total number of accidents  Slight  Serious  Fatal 
			 1997 0 0 0 0 
			 1998 2 4 0 0 
			 1999 1 1 0 0 
			 2000 0 0 0 0 
			 2001 2 5 0 0 
			 2002 2 2 4 0 
			 2003 3 1 2 0 
			 2004 0 0 0 0 
			 2005 0 0 0 0 
			 2006 0 0 0 0 
			 2007 1 1 0 1

Aircraft: Air Conditioning

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received evidence of aircraft engine testing which has confirmed the presence of organophosphates in the engine bleed air.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 14 March 2007
	No. The Department for Transport (DFT) has asked the Department of Health (DH) to undertake an independent scientific review of data submitted by the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA). BALPA submitted data relating to organophosphates, the cabin air environment, ill-health in aircraft crews and the possible relationship to smoke/fume events in aircraft. Consideration continues in the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT). The next meeting of the COT is on 20 March 2007. The relevant papers can be found on the internet at:
	http://www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/cotnonfood/index.htm
	http://www.food.gov.uk/science/ouradvisors/toxicity/

Aircraft: Air Conditioning

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by what procedures pilots should report any contaminated air events on a UK registered commercial aircraft.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 14 March 2007
	Pilots are required to report contaminated air events to the Civil Aviation Authority, where they meet the criteria for a Mandatory Occurrence Report. The definition of a reportable occurrence is contained in Article 142 of the Air Navigation Order.
	In addition, airlines have their own reporting systems for non-mandatory occurrences for their pilots to follow.

Aviation: Air Pollution

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the carbon emissions produced by international air traffic movements using UK airspace without landing in the UK.

Gillian Merron: None. The information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

East Coast Railway Line: Standards

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what performance targets he has set for GNER for the East Coast Main Line franchise; and what assessment he has made of performance against those targets since December 2006.

Tom Harris: Improving performance on the route is a key output in the current franchise, and continues to be so under the Management Agreement in place since December 2006. The key performance indicators to improving performance are reviewed and discussed at monthly Franchise Performance Meetings. GNER remains committed to improving both its reliability and punctuality on the route and is working with Network Rail to identify improvements. Other performance enhancements which are ongoing are:
	re-engineering the diesel high speed train fleet
	Implementation of a range of reliability improvements to its electric fleet

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport at what point after entering the UK vehicles being driven in the UK but registered abroad are required to have vehicle excise duty paid on their behalf.

Stephen Ladyman: Vehicles from a European Union member state may be used or kept in the UK for up to six months in any 12-month period without vehicle excise duty (VED) being due.
	In accord with international rules in place since 1975, vehicles from outside the European Union may be used or kept in the UK for up to 12 months without VED being due. In order for vehicles to qualify for this exemption from paying VED, the vehicle must be properly registered and taxed in its home country.

Railways: Pennines

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what work has been undertaken to enhance capacity on Trans-Pennine rail routes since 1997.

Tom Harris: The First Transpennine Express (TPE) franchise commenced on 1 February 2004. Since that time, the franchise has delivered capacity improvements in excess of 18 per cent. Much of this was due to an increase from three trains/hour to four trains/hour over the core Leeds—Manchester section in December 2004, but the introduction of new Class 185 trains to the route, completed in January 2007, has brought further capacity benefits.

Roads: Accidents

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accident blackspots he has identified in  (a) Taunton constituency and  (b) Somerset; and what steps his Department has undertaken to reduce the number of accidents in those locations.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has made no assessment of accident cluster sites in either Taunton or Somerset. As the local highway authority, the duty to investigate accident cluster sites lies with Somerset county council.

Roads: Accidents

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents occurred in Taunton constituency in each year since 1996, broken down by the day of the week on which the accident occurred.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of reported personal injury road accidents in the parliamentary constituency of Taunton by day of the week in each year since 1996 is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of reported personal injury road accidents by day of the week : Constituency( 1)  of Taunton 1996-2005 
			   Day of week 
			   Monday  Tuesday  Wednesday  Thursday  Friday  Saturday  Sunday  Total 
			 1996 57 55 51 69 57 51 43 383 
			 1997 76 63 61 65 66 53 42 426 
			 1998 58 52 73 74 73 60 44 434 
			 1999 68 56 43 60 60 53 42 382 
			 2000 69 58 74 62 87 61 40 451 
			 2001 67 73 70 72 74 58 43 457 
			 2002 62 69 62 59 69 51 37 409 
			 2003 50 58 64 64 56 52 43 387 
			 2004 59 56 53 62 66 60 42 398 
			 2005 58 69 57 71 76 42 52 425 
			 (1) Based on 2004 constituency boundaries

Roads: Cambridge

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the  (a) total number of accidents,  (b) average daily traffic flow and  (c) accident rate per million vehicle kilometres was for the stretch of (i) the A14 between Girton and Cambridge, (ii) the A10 between Cambridge and Ely and (iii) the A1307 between Haverhill and Cambridge in 2006; and what each has been in 2007 to date.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested for 2006 will be available in summer 2007. Data for 2007 will be available in summer 2008.

Roads: Construction

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many kilometres of HGV lanes have been built or designated since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: None.

Tolls: Greater London

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was paid by the Government Car and Despatch Agency in London congestion charges in each year since the scheme's inception; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The Government Car and Despatch Agency paid the following in London congestion charges since the scheme's inception:
	
		
			   Congestion charge (£) 
			 2002-03 22,202.00 
			 2003-04 179,465.50 
			 2004-05 158,508.00 
			 2005-06 146,846.20 
		
	
	The continuing reduction in the congestion charge paid in 2004-05 and 2005-06 reflects the Agency's decision to diversify its Government fleet to include Toyota Prius vehicles, which are currently exempt from the London congestion charge.

Wheelchairs: Pedestrian Areas

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what studies have been carried out on the risks associated with  (a) motorised wheelchairs and  (b) other pavement vehicles; what results were shown for Class 3 vehicles; and what representations have been made to his Department on this issue.

Gillian Merron: The Department has published a review of these vehicles, including research into the number of related incidents categorised by severity. The findings are available on the Department's website. We are currently reviewing this evidence in conjunction with the representations received on general use of such vehicles, which have included some on safe usage.

Wrexham-Bidston Railway Line

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research has been carried out into the extent of the potential for modal shift away from cars of the electrification of the Wrexham-Bidston railway line.

Tom Harris: I am aware that the Borderlands Rail Study commissioned by the Taith Consortium of North Wales local authorities, the Welsh Development Agency, Merseytravel and Cheshire county council assessed the economic case for investment in the Wrexham-Bidston line, including electrifying all or parts of it.
	The benefits of reduced road congestion would be taken into account formally in the assessment which would be required from the promoters of any rail proposal seeking Government funding.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

EC Energy Policy: Canada

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has made to ongoing energy discussions between the European Union and Canada; what matters of energy policy the Government plans to bring up at next month's EU-Canada summit; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: We are in regular contact with Canadian and EU colleagues about energy and climate security in the run up to the G8 Summit in Germany in June 2007, including the prospects for a post-2012 agreement on climate change.
	The EU-Canada summit will take place on 4 June. An agenda for this meeting has not yet been set. We will, however, contribute fully to the dialogue at the appropriate time.

Financial Services: Advisory Services

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many independent financial advice practices went into administration in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The official insolvency statistics published by the Insolvency Service include total numbers of company administrations in England and Wales sourced from Companies House. However, these are not available broken down by industry sector, so it is not possible to provide the figures for independent financial advice practices.

Post Office: Magazine Press

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost to the Post Office was of producing the Keeping You Posted magazine in the latest period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the magazine.

Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. Alan Cook the Managing Director has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Project Al Yamamah

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations have been received by his Department about the Al Yamamah military contract following the announcement that the Serious Fraud Office would end its investigation into the contract.

Malcolm Wicks: As with other Government Departments, including those with a more central role in this matter, the Department of Trade and Industry has received a number of communications about the decision of the Serious Fraud Office to discontinue its investigation in relation to the Al Yamamah programme.

Thames Water: Billing

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received regarding Thames Water's policies in respect of non-paying customers.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	DEFRA Ministers and officials regularly meet with key water industry stakeholders and have received representations on a range of water industry issues, including Thames Water's policy on customers in debt and non-payment of bills.

TREASURY

Arms Trade: Balkans

John Barrett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) assault rifles and  (b) machine guns were imported from (i) Bosnia and Herzegovina, (ii) Croatia and (iii) Serbia and Montenegro in each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 9 March 2007
	The information is not available in the format required.

Child Trust Fund

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what activities were recently undertaken as part of Child Trust Fund week; and what the cost was of each.

Edward Balls: As part of Child Trust Fund week, a number of activities were undertaken to help promote parents' engagement with the Child Trust Fund accounts set up in their children's names, and to encourage new parents to open the accounts themselves. These included a nationwide radio and parenting media advertising campaign at a cost of £234,000, the preparation and distribution of packs designed to help MPs promote the Child Trust Fund in their local regions at a cost of £30,000, and a campaign to promote editorial coverage in the national media at a cost of £31,000. All such expenditure is subject to the normal rules concerning Government communications expenditure, and is designed to ensure properly targeted communications and full value-for-money. All aforementioned costs are exclusive of VAT.

Departments: Knowledge Management

Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many knowledge managers are employed by his Department; what their total remuneration is; how many vacancies for knowledge manager positions there are in his Department; what the salary range is of posts which are vacant; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much his Department spent on knowledge management in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07; what the planned expenditure is in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: Knowledge management involves the improvement of organisational record-keeping, filing systems and processes, and is especially important in efficiently meeting the demands of the Freedom of Information Act and managing the transition to full electronic data storage and management. The Treasury currently employs three individuals on this type of work, one on a part-time basis, and is seeking to recruit a further two individuals. As advertised, the salary ranges for these posts are £40,039 to £48,589.

Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisors

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1907W, on special advisers, to which film and television company his answer referred.

John Healey: The DVDs of film and television series were received from Warner Bros. Entertainment and subsequently donated to charity.

Departments: Pay

David Evennett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the percentage wage increase will be for each grade of civil servant in his Department in the 2007-08 pay round.

John Healey: Pay Awards for the Senior Civil Service grades will be in line with the Review Body on Senior Salaries Report No. 63.
	The pay award process for the delegated grades has not yet commenced.

Economic and Monetary Union

Mark Francois: To ask 
	(1)  the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to date has been of maintaining the Treasury Euro Resource website, www.euro.gov.uk;
	(2)  what the cost to the public purse was of the Treasury Euro Resource, Euro Information, in each year since its inception.

Edward Balls: Information on the costs of starting up and maintaining the Treasury's euro website has been given in the answer of 25 July 2006 to the hon. Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry),  Official Report, column 1351W, the answer of 24 June 2004 to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald),  Official Report, column 1471W, the answer of 8 March 2004 to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor),  Official Report, column 1275W, and the answer of 22 October 2002 to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable),  Official Report, column 220W. The direct cost of maintaining the euro website in 2006-07 was £12,000.

Economic and Monetary Union

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost has been of the euro information centres in  (a) Southampton,  (b) Inverness,  (c) Kent and  (d) Birmingham since their establishment.

Geoff Hoon: I have been asked to reply.
	An overall figure for the operating budgets of Euro Information Centres (EICs) since their establishment is not readily available, as they receive funding from a variety of sources, including charging for some of their services, and have been in operation for more than twenty years. To provide this information for the EICs in Southampton, Inverness, Kent and Birmingham could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Energy: Conservation

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which projects on energy efficiency in the public sector and increased access to the arts and culture have received funding under the Invest to Save-Inclusive Communities Budget since 4 April 2005; and how much each project received.

Stephen Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Des Browne) on 22 March 2006,  Official Report, column 23WS.

Energy: Conservation

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce fiscal incentives to encourage households to introduce renewable energy and energy efficiency methods in their homes.

John Healey: All taxes are kept under review and any changes are announced by the Chancellor as part of the Budget process.
	The Government recognise the importance of household energy efficiency and renewable energy technology and since 1997 has introduced a number of measures in support of these. These include reduced VAT rates for the installation of energy saving materials such as insulation, draught-proofing, heating controls and also for micro-generation-technologies powered by renewable and sustainable energy sources. In addition, the Landlords Energy Saving Allowance (LESA) was introduced in 2004 to improve energy efficiency in the private rented sector. Pre-Budget report 2006 announced extensions to the scope of LESA as well as a stamp duty exemption for the majority of new zero-carbon homes. The pre-Budget report also announced that Finance Bill 2007 would include legislation to ensure that individual householders installing micro-generation are not subject to income tax on any payment for surplus electricity exported back to the grid.
	The Government remain committed to meeting environmental challenges and continue to look for ways to promote household energy efficiency and renewable technologies through a range of tax and other policy measures.

Financial Services: EC Law

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he expects the markets in financial instruments directive to be implemented in full in the United Kingdom by the deadline of November 2007.

Edward Balls: The UK was the only major member state to transpose the markets in financial instruments directive by 31 January 2007. This provides the maximum time available for industry and the FSA to prepare for implementation.

HM Revenue and Customs: Consultants

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what expenditure on external advice and consultancy was incurred by HM Revenue and Customs in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06; how much has been incurred in 2006-07; which consultants were engaged; and on what projects.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 27 February 2007
	The spend from HMRC consultancy budgets for the periods requested was published by the National Audit Office in their report on Central Government's Use of Consultants in December 2006 (HC 128). Figures for 2006-07 will be published in HMRC's departmental report this spring.
	Information on which consultants were engaged is not readily available and we would incur disproportionate costs in carrying out this analysis. However, we can make available the results of earlier analysis which we have on file, showing the top 20 (top 10 for 2004-05) spend by consultancy firm. The information is as follows:
	 Top 10 consultancy suppliers by spend—EX-IR and EX-CE, 2004-05
	Cap Gemini Ernst and Young UK
	Deloitte MCS Ltd.
	PA Consulting Group
	Methods Application Ltd.
	Detica Ltd.
	DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary UK
	Accenture Ltd.
	The Nesco Group
	Alan Whitfield Associates
	French Thornton
	 Top 20 consultancy suppliers by spend—HMRC, 2005-06
	Deloitte and Touche
	KPMG Consulting Ltd.
	PA Consulting Group
	Methods
	DBI Consulting Ltd.
	Mckinsey and Co.
	Parity Resources Ltd.
	Nesco
	Detica Ltd.
	DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary UK
	Serco Ltd.
	Xansa UK Ltd.
	Cap Gemini Ernst and Young UK
	Alan Whitfield Associates
	Fujitsu Services Ltd.
	Accenture Ltd.
	BMRB International
	Hedra Consortium
	TRL Ltd.
	Electronic Data Systems Ltd.
	 Top 20 consultancy suppliers by spend—HMRC, April 2006 to January 2007
	Detica Ltd.
	Fujitsu Services Ltd.
	Deloitte MCS Ltd.
	Parity Resourcing Ltd.
	Methods Consulting Ltd.
	Smartsourcing plc.
	The Nesco Group
	Accenture Services Ltd.
	Serco Consulting
	Xansa
	Fujitsu Services Ltd. (Pacesetter)
	PA Consulting Group
	Coi-Coi Trading Fund/GNN
	Language Line Ltd.
	Serco Ltd.
	Specialist Computer Centres
	Pharmaventures
	Gartner Group UK Ltd.
	The Yellow Team Ltd.
	Ashbourne Assessment Systems Ltd.

HM Revenue and Customs: Flights

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what total expenditure on flights by HM Revenue and Customs managers was with  (a) British Airways and  (b) BMI in each of the last two years.

Dawn Primarolo: Information relating to flights by HMRC managers cannot be disaggregated from the overall cost of flights booked through HMRC's official travel contractors.

International Monetary Fund

Iain Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the Public Information Notice produced following the International Monetary Fund's Article IV consultation with the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: The UK Government strongly supports the IMF surveillance programme, and welcomes scrutiny of UK economic and financial policy.
	The Public Information Notice, published alongside the Article IV Report, concluded that "macro-economic performance in the UK remains impressive". The Treasury will publish an updated assessment of economic and fiscal developments in the 2007 Budget on 21 March.

Leeds Castle Group

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost has been since 2006 of attendance at the meetings of the Leeds Castle Group.

Dawn Primarolo: The combined cost to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs of hosting the inaugural meeting of the Leeds Castle Group in January 2006 and attending the meeting hosted by Canada in January 2007 was £37,038.

Marginal Tax Rates

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table on the lines of Table 4.2 of the Pre-Budget Report showing the number of households facing Marginal Deduction Rates of  (a) 68 per cent. and over,  (b) 70 per cent. and over,  (c) 80 per cent. and over,  (d) 90 per cent. and over and  (e) 100 per cent. and over using the same assumptions as in Table 4.2.

John Healey: Estimates of the numbers of families facing different marginal deduction rates will continue to be published in pre-Budget and Budget reports.

Michael Ellam

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what role Michael Ellam plays on the Treasury Board; and what day-to-day responsibilities he has.

John Healey: The role of the Treasury board is set out on the Treasury website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/about_treasury_board.cfm.
	On day-to-day responsibilities, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 18 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1253W.

National Trust

Robert Key: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the Director-General of the National Trust; and what was discussed.

John Healey: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Personal Equity Plans

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intends to undertake a regulatory impact assessment prior to the merger of Personal Equity Plans (PEPs) and Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) in April 2008; and whether he has estimated likely changes to tax revenues resulting from the taxation of un-invested cash in PEPs after their conversion into ISAs.

Edward Balls: A partial regulatory impact assessment of a package of reforms to the ISA regime, including the proposal to bring PEPs within the ISA wrapper, was published in December 2006. The Government intend to publish a full regulatory impact assessment of this package of reforms when the implementing legislation is laid in the summer. It is estimated that the application of the ISA treatment to interest earned on all un-invested cash held in former PEPs will have only a negligible effect on revenues.

Smuggling: Tobacco

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what targets his Department has set in relation to tobacco smuggling.

John Healey: holding answer 14 March 2007
	The Department's targets in relation to tobacco smuggling are set out in the HMRC Annual Report 2005-06.

Smuggling: Tobacco

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much  (a) smuggled tobacco produce and  (b) counterfeit tobacco produce was seized in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The amount of seized tobacco produce can be found in HMRC's Annual Reports
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/reports.htm.

Taxation: Overpayments

Charles Walker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of Schedule E tax which was overpaid in each financial year since April 2000.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs does not hold this information

Unpaid Taxes

Charles Walker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of unpaid  (a) Schedule D tax and  (b) Capital Gains tax in each year since April 2000.

Dawn Primarolo: There are no reliable estimates for the amount of unpaid  (a) Schedule D tax and  (b) Capital Gains tax in each year since April 2000.

Welfare Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have moved into work from each New Deal programme and claimed tax credit; and what the average annual tax credit payment is to a person in each group.

Dawn Primarolo: The estimated number of in-work families benefiting from the 50+ element of the working tax credit, in 2004-05, is published in table 2.1 of the HMRC publication "Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards, 2004-05", which is available on the HMRC website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm. The average annual tax credit entitlement for each family in this group is around £4,000.
	Information regarding other new deal programmes is not available.

Written Questions

Robert Key: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to answer question 119123, on the National Trust, tabled by the hon. Member for Salisbury on 1 February 2007.

John Healey: I have done so.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa: Sexual Offences

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has received on sexual abuse of child refugees in the Great Lakes region of Africa; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: World Vision published on 27 February 2007 a detailed report on the sexual abuse of children in refugee and internally displaced persons camps in the Great Lakes region, which DFID is studying carefully. We have also had representations on the vulnerability of children in war zones in the Great Lakes, most recently from War Child and through the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes.
	We recognise this is a very serious issue and welcome the focus these organisations bring to it. We continue to work closely with civil society groups, established churches and Governments in the region to address the issue as a matter of urgency.

European Development Fund

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what conditions the European Development Fund places on donor recipients; and what conditions his Department places on the same recipients through bilateral agreements with those countries.

Gareth Thomas: The European Development Fund (EDF) is subject to conditions at different levels, including those of a political and technical nature. At the political level, the EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement identifies a number of "essential" (human rights, democracy and the rule of law) and "fundamental" (governance) elements. A breach of the principles underpinning these elements can lead to consultations between the EU and the ACP state concerned and the imposition of measures aimed at remedying the breach. These measures must be proportional but may, as a last resort, evoke a suspension of community aid.
	DFID's bilateral relationships with partner countries, including those funded by the EDF, are covered by the UK policy paper "Partnerships for poverty reduction: rethinking conditionally". This was published jointly by DFID, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and HM Treasury in March 2005. The UK believes that an effective aid partnership is based on a shared commitment to poverty reduction, human rights and strong financial management. These are similar to those essential and fundamental elements outlined in the aforementioned paragraph. We may interrupt or stop aid if a partner Government breaches these commitments. Any conditions we use will relate to these three commitments and be drawn from our partner's own policies and plans, wherever possible.

European Development Fund

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he expects the UK to ratify the 10th European Development Fund; and by when he expects all member states to have ratified the Fund.

Gareth Thomas: The Government will lay the necessary documentation before Parliament within the next few weeks. We hope it will be possible to complete ratification before the summer recess.
	Other member states have indicated that they expect to conclude ratification within the agreed deadline of the end of 2007.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Abandoned Vehicles

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate the Department has made of the number of abandoned vehicles in each month of the last five years, broken down by  (a) region and  (b) local authority area.

Ben Bradshaw: Data on the number of abandoned vehicles removed and destroyed by local authorities are collected from each authority on an annual basis only; a breakdown by month is not available.
	The data requested, by region, is set out in the table:
	
		
			  Number of abandoned vehicles reported 
			  Thousand 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 North East 3.2 6.7 6.8 4.0 3.8 
			 North West 10.6 13.8 13.3 10.4 9.1 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 12.7 15.4 14.0 10.4 8.4 
			 East Midlands 16.9 19.3 15.5 9.9 6.8 
			 West Midlands 13.1 16.1 13.4 8.9 8.6 
			 East 42.2 44.9 35.3 19.6 16.3 
			 London 104.5 94.5 59.6 49.5 43.6 
			 South East 57.5 53.4 42.3 24.4 19.8 
			 South West 23.7 27.7 21.0 13.2 9.8 
			 England 284.4 291.7 221.1 150.2 126.1 
			  Note: Totals may not add due to rounding 
		
	
	The table containing data broken down by each local authority area is lengthy so I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Biofuels

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to promote the development of  (a) synthetic diesel and  (b) other biofuel production from waste plant material.

Stephen Ladyman: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government supports the development and use of biofuels primarily through fuel duty incentives. We also fund research into advanced biofuel production processes, including a recent DTI-funded study into biofuel production from plant biomass (details at
	http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file35818.pdf)
	and a national non-food crops centre project to determine the opportunities for producing synthetic diesel and other materials from biomass to liquids technology (further details at
	http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/funding/calls.cfm ).
	At EU level, the UK Government have been active in developing and defining the Seventh Framework programme for research and development, which includes significant support for research into improved and new types of biofuels for transport.
	In the longer term, the Government are keen to use the renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO) to promote the development and use of those biofuels which offer the greatest environmental benefits. The use of wastes, including plant wastes, has the potential to offer significant climate change and sustainability benefits. We are seeking views on the ways in which we might incentivise the environmental benefits of biofuels as part of our consultation on the RTFO, copies of which are available in the House Libraries.

Biofuels

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will have regard to the growing of bio-fuel crops that  (a) require deforestation and  (b) inhibit sustainable food policies when developing his policy on bio-fuels.

Ian Pearson: Sustainability of production is one of the Government's key priorities for biofuel development. That is why the Government are developing environmental reporting as an integral part of the renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO). This will require all obligated companies to report on the carbon savings and wider environmental impacts of their biofuels. The reports will include details of the previous use of the land on which the biofuel feedstocks were grown, and the impacts on biodiversity of growing those feedstocks. This will encourage companies to supply biofuels which deliver the maximum carbon savings with the minimum environmental impact. It will also ensure that we can monitor the impact of both imported and domestically-sourced biofuels.
	In the longer-term, the Government will be looking to move to a system that allows only biofuels which meet certain minimum sustainability standards to benefit from the RTFO. However, developing a verifiable and robust system that is compatible with World Trade Organisation requirements on preventing barriers to trade will take time.
	We anticipate that biofuels in the UK will come from a mixture of home-grown and imported crops, recycled waste vegetable oils and tallow. While some biofuel crops are likely to replace UK food crops, there are significant quantities of oilseed rape and wheat that are currently exported which could be retained for domestic biofuel use, with no loss to food production. Biofuel crops can also be grown on set-aside land, that is, land which cannot be used for food crops. In the longer term, as technology improves, straw and wood could be used for biofuel production.

Birds: Conservation

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department plans to implement the recommendation of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee that, before any species of bird is removed from Schedule 4 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, there should be random testing of a proportion of the captive-bred population to verify claims of captive breeding.

Barry Gardiner: As part of the public consultation exercise for the review of the Bird Registration Scheme, my officials asked the Forensic Working Group (FWG) of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) specifically to consider the DNA forensic issues relating to registration, including those associated with hybrids. The exercise closed on 16 February 2007, and over the coming weeks we will be considering the Forensic Working Group's contribution alongside all the other responses received. A summary of responses received will be published shortly on the DEFRA website.

Dairy Farming

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average  (a) dairy and  (b) beef herd size is in (i) Great Britain, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) each county.

Barry Gardiner: The average size of dairy and beef herds in England at June 2006 is shown in table 1. County data can be found in table 2. Figures for the other UK countries fall under the jurisdiction of the individual devolved authorities.
	
		
			  Table 1—England 
			   Number 
			  (a) Total dairy cows 129,0231 
			 Total holdings with dairy cows 14,772 
			 Average herd size for dairy cows 87 
			   
			  (b) Total beef cows 73,9046 
			 Total holdings with beef cows 28,293 
			 Average herd size for beef cows 26 
			  Notes: 1. Dairy/beef cows are any cows or heifers that have calved including cull cows. Dairy and beef herd replacements are not included nor are cattle intended for slaughter. 2. Some holdings may have both dairy and beef cows and will therefore be included in the holding counts of both categories  Source: June Agricultural Survey 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2—Dairy and beef cows and holdings by county in England 
			   (a)  (b) 
			  County/unitary authority  Total dairy cows  Hdgs with dairy cows  Average dairy herd size  Total beef cows  Hdgs with beef cows  Average beef herd size 
			 Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees — — — 862 36 24 
			 South Teesside 1,251 24 52 1,643 53 31 
			 Darlington 1,293 15 87 1,304 55 24 
			 Durham CC 6,973 123 57 21,358 682 31 
			 Northumberland 7,758 102 76 46,825 882 53 
			 Tyneside — — — 1,223 36 34 
			 Sunderland 0 0 0 271 10 27 
			 North East Region 18,558 281 66 73,487 1,753 42 
			
			 West Cumbria 39,870 468 85 21,509 753 29 
			 East Cumbria 68,768 809 85 38,727 1,338 29 
			 Halton and Warrington — — — 344 19 18 
			 Cheshire CC 99,665 880 113 9,055 520 17 
			 Greater Manchester South 1,463 24 62 1,392 73 19 
			 Greater Manchester North 5,650 87 65 3,846 210 18 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 1,238 22 56 802 43 19 
			 Blackpool — — — 0 0 0 
			 Lancashire CC 71,834 849 85 17,240 820 21 
			 East Merseyside — — — 566 14 40 
			 Liverpool 0 0 0 — — — 
			 Sefton — — — — — — 
			 Wirral 1,905 15 126 210 13 16 
			 North West Region 291,898 3,173 92 94,041 3,811 25 
			
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of — — — — — — 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 5,540 87 63 10,399 351 30 
			 North and North East Lincolnshire — — — 2,315 100 23 
			 York 1,180 18 67 — — — 
			 North Yorkshire CC 73,970 965 77 51,208 1,853 28 
			 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham 6,879 92 74 3,978 184 22 
			 Sheffield 2,076 34 62 2,031 74 27 
			 Bradford 3,866 58 67 3,301 159 21 
			 Leeds 2,263 31 73 2,657 106 25 
			 Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield 8,633 130 66 8,724 443 20 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Region 104,966 1,430 73 85,857 3,325 26 
			
			 Derby — — — — — — 
			 East Derbyshire 4,941 96 52 2,801 156 18 
			 South and West Derbyshire 40,277 529 76 20,634 828 25 
			 Nottingham 0 0 0 — — — 
			 North Nottinghamshire 5,676 62 91 4,053 172 24 
			 South Nottinghamshire 4,378 47 93 2,060 104 20 
			 Leicester — — — — — — 
			 Leicestershire CC and Rutland 25,510 282 90 14,770 583 25 
			 Northamptonshire 6,500 82 79 12,431 380 33 
			 Lincolnshire 7,783 99 79 18,744 581 32 
			 East Midlands Region 95,603 1,203 79 75,649 2,813 27 
			
			 Herefordshire, County of 17,582 228 77 20,633 852 24 
			 Worcestershire 14,100 177 80 8,553 469 18 
			 Warwickshire 12,561 184 68 8,818 390 23 
			 Telford and Wrekin 4,028 38 107 1,029 45 23 
			 Shropshire CC 70,042 730 96 28,632 1,123 25 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 818 14 57 414 14 30 
			 Staffordshire CC 75,536 869 87 19,004 1,004 19 
			 Birmingham — — — — — — 
			 Solihull 1,487 17 87 1,054 42 25 
			 Coventry — — — 362 10 36 
			 Dudley and Sandwell 185 5 40 — — — 
			 Walsall and Wolverhampton 0 0 0 224 11 21 
			 West Midlands Region 196,694 2,269 87 88,896 3,968 22 
			
			 Peterborough — — — — — — 
			 Cambridgeshire CC 1,566 29 55 5,464 196 28 
			 Norfolk 11,137 146 76 18,587 547 34 
			 Suffolk 4,977 91 55 7,646 329 23 
			 Luton 0 0 0 — — — 
			 Bedfordshire CC 1,744 25 69 2,131 114 19 
			 Hertfordshire 2,269 38 59 3,975 150 27 
			 Southend-on-Sea 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Thurrock — — — 579 16 37 
			 Essex CC 4,401 56 78 5,248 235 22 
			 Eastern Region 26,370 392 67 43,926 1,602 27 
			
			 Inner London—West 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Inner London—East — — — — — — 
			 Outer London—East and North East — — — 254 8 32 
			 Outer London—South — — — 152 10 15 
			 Outer London—West and North West 669 7 90 219 11 20 
			 Berkshire 5368 44 121 3,707 135 28 
			 Milton Keynes 667 8 80 600 33 18 
			 Buckinghamshire CC 8,841 96 92 11,015 323 34 
			 Oxfordshire 10,799 118 92 11,239 361 31 
			 Brighton and Hove — — — — — — 
			 East Sussex CC 8,842 113 78 9,750 428 23 
			 Surrey 7,101 77 92 5,070 211 24 
			 West Sussex 14,508 130 112 8,191 284 29 
			 Portsmouth — — — — — — 
			 Southampton — — — — — — 
			 Hampshire CC 20,221 198 102 12,420 531 23 
			 Isle of Wight 3,546 44 80 2,275 98 23 
			 Medway 0 0 0 558 6 93 
			 Kent CC 10,850 120 91 11,270 479 24 
			 South East Region (inc. London) 91,962 963 95 77,077 2,925 26 
			
			 Bristol, City of — — — 55 5 11 
			 North and North East Somerset, South Gl 26,139 279 94 7,487 396 19 
			 Gloucestershire 28,877 321 90 15,820 665 24 
			 Swindon 2,781 30 92 477 28 17 
			 Wiltshire CC 42,345 401 106 18,136 545 33 
			 Bournemouth and Poole — — — 73 7 11 
			 Dorset CC 64,013 564 113 13,519 600 23 
			 Somerset 94,487 918 103 30,346 1,205 25 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 73,919 956 77 44,497 1,829 24 
			 Plymouth 0 0 0 298 6 50 
			 Torbay — — — 330 10 34 
			 Devon CC 131,101 1,584 83 69,075 2,801 25 
			 South West Region 464,180 5,060 92 200,112 8,096 25 
			
			 England 1,290,231 14,772 87 739,046 28,293 26 
			  Notes: 1. Dairy/beef cows are any cows or heifers that have calved including cull cows. Dairy and beef herd replacements are not included nor are cattle intended for slaughter. 2. Some holdings may have both dairy and beef cows and will therefore be included in the holding counts of both categories.  Source: June Agricultural Survey

Departments: Equal Opportunities

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to implement the Race Equality Duty since 2000.

Barry Gardiner: Following the introduction of the race duties we produced a Race Equality Scheme in draft format for public consultation in May 2002. We revised and updated our Race Equality Scheme in July 2003.
	Our revised scheme, which took account of comments received during the consultation, lays out in detail how we implemented the Race Equality Duty. This includes information on how we:
	assess, and consult on, the likely impact proposed policies will have on promoting race equality;
	monitor policies for any adverse impact on promoting race equality;
	publish the results of assessments, consultation and monitoring;
	make sure the public have access to information and services; and
	train staff to carry out the general duty and the specific duties.
	A copy of our Race Equality Scheme is enclosed/available at www.defra.gov.uk
	Key achievements include:
	Race Relations Act training for staff;
	launch of an Equality Impact Assessment toolkit; and
	the extension of DEFRA's successful Elevator Partnership Scheme to specifically address under-representation of minority ethnic and disabled staff at senior management levels.

Departments: Manpower

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many civil servants are working on policy on anaerobic digestion, broken down by grade; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: A cross-cutting project team is co-ordinating work across DEFRA to develop policy on anaerobic digestion. This regularly involves 14 individuals across five DEFRA divisions as well as a number of others. The total level of staff resources dedicated to the work on anaerobic digestion is equivalent to just under two full-time staff, broken down by grade as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Grade 5 0.15 
			 Grade 7 0.35 
			 Senior Executive Officer 0.8 
			 Higher Executive Officer 0.05 
			 Executive Officer 0.2 
			 Administrative Officer 0.25 
		
	
	Anaerobic digestion has the potential to make a significant contribution to a number of key Government objectives. Most notably, this includes reducing greenhouse emissions from waste management and agriculture, and improving air quality, as well as providing a source of renewable energy.
	We will shortly be publishing the UK Biomass Strategy, which will include details of how we propose to work with interested parties to drive faster growth in the use of this technology. We are also currently assessing the level of staff resources that will be required to deliver the UK Biomass Strategy.
	In parallel, the national Waste Strategy, which is also to be published this spring, will set out the important contribution which anaerobic digestion can make to achieving our waste management goals.

Departments: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Animal By-Products Regulations 2003 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Barry Gardiner: The total administrative burden cost of the Animal By-Products Regulations 2003 to business was calculated as £7.58 million. One-off/contingent costs were estimated at £41,000, and recurring costs were £7,539,000. Costs to the Department can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	A full regulatory impact assessment was published alongside the Animal By-Products Regulations 2003. Copies were made available in the Library of the House. It is also available from the DEFRA website at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/regulat/ria/2003/animal-byproducts.pdf
	The successful application of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) feed controls has brought about a year on year reduction in the incidence of BSE. This, along with the Government's other BSE controls, has enabled the Over Thirty Month scheme to be replaced, at an annual saving to the taxpayer of £300 million, and paved the way for the beef export ban to be lifted.

Departments: Paper

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what plans he has to increase the amount of recycled paper used in his Department;
	(2)  what percentage of the paper used by his office comes from recycled sources.

Barry Gardiner: During the last financial year the core Department purchased 874 tonnes of recycled paper for printed publications (96 per cent.) and 235.8 tonnes of recycled paper for internal office use (100 per cent.).
	DEFRA's procurement policy requires use of recycled paper that meets the Quick Wins targets set by the Government in October 2003. These require all Departments to buy paper for printed publications using coated paper that meets or exceeds a 60 per cent. recycled target of which a minimum is 75 per cent. post consumer waste. DEFRA currently buys 75 per cent. recycled paper in this category. For office paper and publications using uncoated paper there is a 100 per cent. recycled target of which 75 per cent. should be post consumer waste.
	The only exceptions to these standards are where recycled paper is not available for a specific process, e.g. security paper.

Energy: Housing

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans his Department has to encourage local planning authorities to enforce higher standards for the energy efficiency of homes.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 14 March 2007
	Enforcement of higher standards for the energy efficiency of homes is the responsibility of Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). DEFRA has been working closely with DCLG to secure greater energy efficiency of new and existing homes through amendments to Part L of the Building Regulations. DEFRA supports the recent amendment to Part L, which will lead to an increase in the energy efficiency of new homes by approximately 20 per cent. compared with those built to the 2002 Regulations. DEFRA also supports the commitment that all new homes will be zero carbon by 2016, introduced through a timetable of phased improvements.

Environment Protection: EC Law

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the timetable is for the introduction of the environmental liability directive; and what is required for it to have regulatory effect.

Barry Gardiner: Member states are required to transpose the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) by 30 April 2007. The Government completed the first of two public consultations (on policy options for transposing) at the end of February. Following analysis of consultation responses, the way forward is currently being considered. The second consultation (on draft legislation) is planned to take place later in the year. The 30 April implementation deadline will therefore not be met. Taking account of all the required processes, implementation is expected during spring 2008. While the Government wish to implement the Directive as expeditiously as possible, it also wants to ensure optimum stakeholder engagement. We will apply section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972, using the appropriate Designation Orders, as the legal base for transposing the ELD.

Executive Agencies

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 24 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1723W, on executive agencies, what the net change was in the  (a) value and  (b) percentage of (i) resource and (ii) capital budget levels for each of his Department's executive agencies from 2005-06 to 2006-07 in (1) cash terms and (2) real terms; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: Of the Department's nine executive agencies, five (Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Central Science Laboratory, Pesticides Safety Directorate, Veterinary Laboratories Agency and Veterinary Medicines Directorate) are net controlled agencies and recover their full economic costs through charges to their customers which include both DEFRA and non-DEFRA clients.
	Details of the net changes to budgets of the four gross controlled agencies are given in the following table.
	
		
			   lncrease/(reduction) in cash terms  Increase/(reduction) in real( 1)  terms 
			   Value (£ million)  Percentage  Value (£ million)  Percentage 
			   Prog  Cap  Prog  Cap  Prog  Cap  Prog  Cap 
			 GDS 2.3 0.0 2.4 0.0 2.3 0.0 2.3 0.0 
			 MFA 3.1 0.0 0.2 0.0 2.5 0.0 0.1 0.0 
			 RPA (260.5) 20.5 (0.5) 2.7 (273.5) 20.3 (0.5) 2.6 
			 SVS 8.6 7.7 0.1 3.0 6.2 7.7 0.1 2.9 
			 (1 )2.68 per cent. added to the 2005-06 to restate at 2006-07 values.  Notes: GDS Government Decontamination Service MFA Marine Fisheries Agency RPA Rural Payments Agency SVS State Veterinary Service  Source:  HMT GDP Deflators

Executive Agencies

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 24 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1723W, on executive agencies, what subsequent changes to the  (a) resource and  (b) capital budgets of his Department's executive agencies have been made; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The following subsequent changes (in value and percentage) have been made to the 2006-07 resource and capital budgets of the Department's executive agencies listed:
	 Gross Control Agencies:
	 (i) Government Decontamination Service
	Resource: £0.05 million - 1 per cent. reduction
	Capital: £0 - 0 per cent.
	 (ii) Marine Fisheries Agency
	Resource: £0 - 0 per cent.
	Capital: £0 - 0 per cent.
	 (iii) Rural Payments Agency
	Resource: £2.2 million - 1 per cent. increase
	Capital: £0 - 0 per cent.
	 (iv) State Veterinary Service
	Resource: £3 million - 3 per cent. increase
	Capital: £0 - 0 per cent.
	 Net Control Agencies:
	 (v) Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
	Resource: £0 - 0 per cent.
	Capital: £0 - 0 per cent.
	 (vi) Central Science Laboratory
	Resource: £0 - 0 per cent.
	Capital: £0 - 0 per cent.
	 (vii) Pesticides Safety Directorate
	Resource: £0 - 0 per cent.
	Capital: £0 - 0 per cent.
	 (viii) Veterinary Laboratories Agency
	Resource: £0 - 0 per cent.
	Capital: £0 - 0 per cent.
	 (ix) Veterinary Medicines Directorate
	Resource: £0 - 0 per cent.
	Capital: £0 - 0 per cent.

Falcons: Conservation

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what actions his Department  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take on the status of the saker falcon following the meeting of the CITES Consultative Committee on Trade in Falcons in May 2004.

Barry Gardiner: There was no recommendation from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in May 2004 to change the listing status of the saker falcon. The UK has a policy of only putting forward species for listing or amendment of their listed status where we or one of our overseas territories are a range state. This is not the case with the saker falcon and any action therefore to change its listing status would be for one of the range states. Although the saker falcon is listed by CITES as Appendix II, it is listed by the EU as Annex A (the most endangered category).

Floods: North Yorkshire

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who decides on the allocation of funding to flood defence projects in North Yorkshire.

Ian Pearson: DEFRA provides the Environment Agency (EA) with a budget each year for flood risk management projects. The north east region of the EA produces an annual needs-based programme of works which is approved by the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee. This programme is then considered with the other regional programmes produced by the EA and funding is allocated according to priority.

Hunting

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Hunting Act 2004 in achieving its objectives.

Barry Gardiner: The Government are satisfied with the effectiveness of the Hunting Act 2004, which bans all hunting of wild mammals with dogs, apart from the tightly-drawn exemptions set out in the Act. These exemptions are recognised as effective ways of dealing with specific pest control issues.

Inland Waterways

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had on the Quinquennial Review of British Waterways of 2004;
	(2)  what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Quinquennial Review of British Waterways in 2004; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA has agreed with British Waterways and the Shareholder Executive how the recommendations of the Quinquennial Review should be taken forward. I have met the Chairman and Chief Executive of British Waterways on a number of occasions to discuss a wide range of issues in the context of British Waterways' revised governance framework, as recommended by the Review.

Single Farm Payments

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in making single farm payments.

Barry Gardiner: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made a statement to the House on 22 February 2007,  Official Report, column 60WS, about progress on payments under the Single Payments Scheme. The total paid at that time represented about 59 per cent. of the estimated total fund of £1.54 billion. Further payments have been made since that date. The Rural Payments Agency publishes regular updates on payments under the Single Payments Scheme on its website.

Smith Institute

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money from the public purse  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies gave to (i) the Smith Institute and (ii) its subsidiary SI Events Ltd in each year since 1997; and for what purpose each payment was made.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA came into being in June 2001. From information held centrally, the Department believes no money from the public purse has been given to the Smith Institute and its subsidiary, SI Events Ltd.

Water Supply

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to change the amount of water abstraction for the purposes of public water supply.

Ian Pearson: The Government's approach to the management of sustainable water resources is the "twin track" approach involving the consideration of demand management alongside sustainable resource development. Each water company's Water Resources Management Plan will identify the need for any additional abstraction for the public water supply in line with this approach. These plans will also identify the scope for additional demand management activity, to obviate or minimise the need for new abstraction.
	Where additional abstraction is identified, then any applications for new abstraction licences will be made to the Environment Agency. The licensing system aims to achieve a balance between the requirements of abstractors and adequate protection of the environment against the impacts of abstraction.

Water: Consumption

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of UK water use is by  (a) agriculture,  (b) business excluding agriculture,  (c) domestic consumers and  (d) public bodies and agencies.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 14 March 2007
	Ofwat collects data from water companies each year on water usage. These data are provided for household and non-household customers. The following table provides the most recent figures for 2005-06.
	
		
			   2005-06 
			 Water use household (megalitres per day) 7,760 
			 Water use non-household (megalitres per day) 3,683 
			 Total 11,443 
		
	
	The non-household figure includes agricultural use where it is drawn from the public water supply. Many farmers tend to have their own sources of water supply (such as private boreholes) that are not part of the public supply.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Youth Opportunities Fund

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the administration of the Youth Opportunities Fund by local authorities.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds have been running since April 2006 and are worth £115 million over two years. Local authorities are required to report to Government offices on delivery of the funds on a six monthly basis. The first six monthly reports were received at the end of October 2006. The second reports are due at the end of April 2007. The reporting system is supported by independent evaluation which is being undertaken by the National Foundation for Educational Research.

Adult Education

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) places and (b) courses there are in the adult education sector; how many there were on 15 March 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: In my previous response I was able to confirm that we have realigned funding to support our priorities, which has allowed us to achieve our interim adult Level 2 target with a million more adults in the work force with essential employability skills and more than 1.6 million learners achieving Skills for Life qualifications. Overall in the 2005/06 academic year there were nearly 4 million publicly funded adult learner places. We do not hold information on the number of adult education courses.

Skills Development

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how he plans to develop skills to make the UK a more competitive economy; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Skills are one of the five key drivers of productivity. 1.6 million adults have gained literacy and numeracy qualifications since 2001 and since 2002 1 million more have gained essential Level 2 qualifications. Lord Leitch's report "Prosperity for all in the global economy—world class skills" sets an ambition for the UK to be a world leader in skills by 2020, which we accept. We will create a demand-led system of skills supply, ensuring that economically valuable skills are delivered at all levels to enhance productivity, employability and social mobility.

Leitch Review

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the progress to date in implementing conclusions and recommendations of the report of the Leitch review of skills.

Bill Rammell: We welcomed the ambitions and recommendations of Lord Leitch's report. It set a vital challenge to raise the UK's skills to world class levels by 2020, which we cannot afford not to meet as a nation. Its key proposals include a demand-led system of skills supply, and the creation of an Employment and Skills Commission to scrutinise progress and make recommendations on further action, including legislation. We will publish an implementation plan to take forward this agenda in the context of the Comprehensive Spending Review settlement.

Sure Start

Paul Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the Sure Start programme on the early education, childcare, health and family support of disadvantaged children and their families.

Beverley Hughes: In 2005 the Department published the key emerging findings from our rigorous National Sure Start Evaluation. The report highlighted that even at this early stage in the programmes' lives there were some promising overall positive effects on parenting, and some small positive effects on child outcomes for most families. It also identified where we need to work harder to support our most disadvantaged families, and we have taken steps to address this.

Pupil Exclusions

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proposals he has to strengthen support for children and young people who are excluded from school.

Jim Knight: From September 2007, schools and local authorities will be required to arrange suitable, full-time education for all excluded pupils from the sixth day of exclusion. This is a considerable improvement on the current expectation that local authorities do this from the 16th day of a permanent exclusion. And, by requiring schools to provide education for pupils who are excluded for a fixed period, these changes will ensure that no child misses out on their education when excluded.

Children's Centres

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on what basis funding for children's centres has been allocated for 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: Children's centres revenue and capital funding for 2006-08 was allocated to 150 local authorities, based on a unit cost per child that took account of the numbers of children under the age of five that must be reached by 2008 and levels of disadvantage. Further amounts were added in recognition of the higher costs of delivering services to children in rural areas and London boroughs.

Denominational Schools

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost of transport for pupils attending denominational schools was in  (a) Leicestershire,  (b) the East Midlands and  (c) England in 2005-06.

Jim Knight: The Department for Education and Skills does not collect this information.

Mature Students

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of applications for university places were from mature students in the last 12 months.

Bill Rammell: The latest figures published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) last month show that 42,700 or 15 per cent. of students who had applied for full-time undergraduate courses by mid-January for entry in autumn 2007 were mature students.

Creative Partnership Programme

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the creative partnership programme on children's learning; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: There have been four recent independent evaluations of the Creative Partnerships programme. They have been positive about the programme's impact and it has reached over 300,000 young people and 1,600 schools. We are currently considering options for the future of the programme beyond 2008.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of apprenticeship frameworks do not require a technical certificate.

Jim Knight: holding answer 14 March 2007
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 27 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1250W.

Pupils: Intimidation

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consideration was given to the issue of bullying when the policy of extended hours for schools was developed.

Jim Knight: holding answer 13 March 2007
	Extended services are being developed in and around schools as a key part of the every child matters agenda in order to deliver outcomes for children which include being safe, healthy, and enjoying and achieving. The core offer of services which all schools have been asked to develop by 2010 includes a varied menu of activities, childcare, parenting support, swift and easy referral to more specialist services such as health, social care and education welfare specialists as well as opening up facilities to the wider community.
	In doing so the offer can help tackle both the causes and the impact of bullying by giving children and young people safe places in which to achieve and build their confidence, helping to address their social and emotional needs through effective relationships between children's professionals, and by supporting parents in building strong and constructive relationships with their children and dealing with issues such as bullying.

Schools: Biometrics

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that schools are aware of the proposed new guidelines on the collection of biometric data in schools.

Jim Knight: holding answer 13 March 2007
	The guidance will be available on both the Becta and the Department's teachernet websites and sent as a link to all primary and secondary schools in England as part of the Department's fortnightly e-mail communications with schools.
	
		
			  Thousands 
			   Under 19  Adult  All ages 
			  April 2000 to July 2001
			 Basic skills 16 50 67 
			 Key skills 75 10 86 
			 GCSE 43 21 63 
			 Total 134 81 216 
			 
			  August 2001 to July 2002
			 Basic skills 23 73 95 
			 Key skills 91 12 103 
			 GCSE 48 23 71 
			 Total 161 108 270 
			 
			  August 2002 to July 2003
			 Basic skills 16 72 87 
			 Key skills 80 13 93 
			 GCSE 48 23 71 
			 Total 144 107 251 
			 
			  August 2003 to July 2004
			 Basic skills 26 114 140 
			 Key skills 117 36 153 
			 GCSE 48 23 70 
			 Total 191 173 363 
			 
			  August 2004 to July 2005
			 Basic skills 54 193 247 
			 Key skills 188 86 274 
			 GCSE 48 22 70 
			 Total 290 301 591 
			 
			  August 2005 to July 2006
			 Basic skills 45 195 241 
			 Key skills 145 99 244 
			 GCSE 32 14 46 
			 Total 222 308 530 
			  Note:  Figures may not add up to totals due to rounding.  Source:  LSC's Individual Learner Record (ILR) and Employer Training Pilots (ETP) databases. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number( 1,2)  of day care places for children under eight years of age by type of provider: Lancashire Position at 31 March each year: 1990 to 2002 
			  Type of provider  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002 
			 Day nurseries 9,900 (4)— 8,800 9,600 10,900 (4)— 
			 Playgroups and pre-schools 8,200 (4)— 6,600 6,600 6,500 (4)— 
			 Childminders 8,700 (4)— 6,000 5,800 5,900 (4)— 
			 Out of school clubs 1,100 (4)— 1,600 1,900 2,200 (4)— 
			 Holiday schemes(3) 1,500 (4)— 900 700 600 (4)— 
			 (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 places. (2 )Data Source: Children's Day Care Facilities Survey. (3 )From 1999, places were counted once for each school holiday. Before 1999, places were counted once each year. (4 )Not available.

Schools: Finance

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many local authorities have a control mechanism for surplus school balances; and how much was recycled using these mechanisms in the last year for which figures were available.

Jim Knight: In October 2006, the Secretary of State directed a revision of all local authority financial schemes, requiring the introduction of a claw back mechanism to be in place by 1 April 2007, in time for the new 2007-08 financial year.
	Some authorities have already introduced a claw back mechanism in their local schemes prior to 2007-08. The precise operation of a claw back mechanism is a matter for local authorities to devise, in consultation with their schools and the local schools forum following the Department's statutory scheme guidance. The Department does not collect information on the level of funding recycled through claw back.

Schools: Finance

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which local authorities have reported a contribution from their centrally retained schools budget to a combined services budget.

Jim Knight: The following table provides the information recorded by those authorities who have reported a contribution from their centrally retained schools budget to a combined services budget for 2006-07:
	
		
			  Budgeted net expenditure on contributions to combined budgets: 2006-07 
			  Local authority name  Contribution to combined budgets (£) 
			 England 8,349,351 
			 Barnet 365,500 
			 Bolton 125,000 
			 Cumbria 380,000 
			 Derbyshire 500,000 
			 East Sussex 300,002 
			 Enfield 480,000 
			 Greenwich 29,000 
			 Hampshire 500,000 
			 Haringey 950,000 
			 Islington 263,515 
			 Kingston upon Thames 75,000 
			 Luton 206,369 
			 North Yorkshire 594,248 
			 Poole 46,000 
			 Richmond upon Thames 50,000 
			 Salford 276,636 
			 Shropshire 265,867

Schools: Overseas Students

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children from outside the UK are registered in schools in England, broken down by their country of origin.

Jim Knight: holding answer 12 March 2007
	The requested information is not collected centrally.

Schools: Sports

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library copies of guidance in place on charging to use sports facilities at private finance initiative schools.

Jim Knight: Guidance is contained in the section 'Use of Schools' which forms Clause 29 of the Schools Standard Form PFI Agreement issued in May 2005. The agreement has been placed in the House Library.

Students: Fees and Charges

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of lifting the cap on top up fees in 2009 on application rates to university.

Bill Rammell: We have made no such assessment, which would be premature at this time. We have made clear our intention to establish an independent review of the introduction of variable tuition fees and the improvements to the student support system, which came into effect in autumn 2006. The review will be conducted by a commission, which will work on the basis of evidence from the first three years of operation of the variable fee arrangements. It will report to Parliament.

Teenage Pregnancy

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in delivering the Government's strategy to combat teenage pregnancy; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: We are making steady progress in reducing England's historically high teenage pregnancy rate. The latest data show that between the 1998 baseline year and 2005 the under-18 conception rate fell by 11.8 per cent. to its lowest levels for over 20 years. The under-16 rate fell by 12.1 per cent. over the same period.

Translation Services

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what documents his Department and its agencies translate for people in the UK who do not speak English; into which languages such documents are translated; and what the cost was of producing such translations in each of the last five years, broken down by language of translation.

Bill Rammell: The information requested is as follows:
	 1. What documents are translated
	The Department produces a large number of documents, each with a specific target audience. We recognise that some publications will have target audiences which include communities or individuals for whom English will not be the primary language. Decisions based on whether documents are translated, and if so into which languages, are made on a case by case basis, taking into account guidance provided by the Inclusivity Unit of COI Communications (Central Office of Information) on the specific communications needs of minority ethnic communities and the content and target audience of the particular publication. In general terms translations are undertaken for those communities who face high levels of social exclusion and are least likely to be fluent and literate in English.

HEALTH

Bedford Hospital NHS Trust: Finance

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she had to write off the historic debt of Bedford hospital NHS trust.

Andy Burnham: All national health service bodies must live within their means and there can be no question of us simply writing off deficits when particular trusts have failed to operate within their budgets.
	We recognise that it may be challenging for NHS trusts to pay back a large deficit that has built up over a number of years. However, the Department, and, consequently, the NHS, have to live within an agreed level of resources in each financial year. This level is set by HM Treasury and voted by Parliament. In order for the system as a whole to balance, a deficit in one organisation has to be matched by a surplus elsewhere.
	In circumstances where a surplus cannot be generated in the following year, for example in the case of the small number of organisations with particularly large deficits, strategic health authorities can agree to a recovery plan which phases the recovery of those deficits over a number of years. This would require other NHS organisations within the health economy to underspend over the same period. Any such arrangements would have to be subject to the agreement of local providers, commissioners and the managing SHA.

Complaints

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is made available to  (a) patients and  (b) patient groups on their rights to complain to strategic health authorities about the performance of primary care trusts; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: No information is made available to patients or patient groups specifically about complaining to strategic health authorities about the performance of primary care trusts (PCTs). Where a patient or patient group wishes to complain about a primary care trust, they should address their complaint directly to the PCT in question.
	Responsibility for dissemination of information about complaints at local level rests with the local national health service organisation. Under Regulation 20 of the national health service (Complaints) Regulations 2004, each NHS body must ensure that there is effective publicity for its complaints arrangements. These regulations require NHS bodies to establish and operate complaints procedures with a view to securing a speedy resolution at local level. Where complainants are not satisfied with the result of an investigation at local level, they may request the Healthcare Commission to consider their complaint.
	The Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) was established to support patients and the public wishing to make a complaint about their NHS care or treatment. ICAS aims to ensure complainants have access to the support they need to articulate their concerns and navigate the complaints system, maximising the chances of their complaint being resolved quickly and effectively.

Efficiency Review

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will break down the efficiency savings in each workstream referred to in the answer of 26 October 2006,  Official Report, column 2087W, on the Efficiency Review, by area of savings.

Andy Burnham: The breakdown of savings within each workstream was as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			  Procurement  
			 Pharmaceuticals procurement 974 
			 Supply chain efficiency programme 169 
			 Purchasing and Supply Agency procurement 100 
			 Independent Treatment Centre procurement 54 
			  1,297 
			   
			  Productive time  
			 Process improvement 1,024 
			 Input costs 94 
			 Time releasing 92 
			  1,210 
			   
			  Social care  
			 Cost efficiency programmes 121 
			 Non cashable gains 58 
			  179 
			   
			  Corporate services  
			 Microsoft contract 30 
			 Shared services 1 
			 Electronic staff records 1 
			 Electronic recruitment 6 
			  38 
			   
			  Public Funding and Regulation (PFR)  
			 Departmental operating costs 20 
			 Arms length bodies 55 
			  75 
			 Total 2,799 
		
	
	This breakdown correlates to the total efficiency gain calculated in July 2006 for the period to year ending March 2006. The gain for process improvement was subsequently revised to £777 million following identification of a calculation error. Procurement and PFR savings were revised by a net positive £22 million following receipt and validation of full year end data. The revised total reported saving up to March 2006 is £2,576 million.
	Savings for social care are provided by local authorities in their annual efficiency statement. These statements provide a split of cashable and non cashable savings but are not required to provide a more detailed breakdown by project. This level of information is retained locally.

General Practitioners

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on training for general practitioners to become GPs with a specialist interest in each year since 1997, broken down by primary care trust; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

General Practitioners: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs there are in the  (a) Greater London area and  (b) London borough of Havering.

Rosie Winterton: There are currently 4,896 general practitioners (GPs) in London, of which 122 are in the borough of Havering.
	 Note:
	All practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes contracted GPs, general medical services others and personal medical services others.
	 Source:
	The Information Centre for health and social care general and personal medical services statistics.

Health Services: Regulation

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will commission research into public participation in healthcare regulation, including  (a) selection and recruitment processes,  (b) the framework for training, mentoring and supporting members,  (c) organisation structures and processes designed to facilitate dialogue with the public and  (d) closer working across and between regulatory bodies.

Andy Burnham: The Government has recently published a White Paper entitled "Trust, Assurance and Safety, The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21(st) Century" which outlines the way forward on health professional regulation. This White Paper follows an extensive public consultation exercise involving over 2,700 responses, including petitions, on the findings of the reviews of medical and non-medical regulation of health care in the United Kingdom.
	These reviews also involved consultation with both advisory groups and a call for ideas which resulted in over 250 responses. In addition, three pieces of research were commissioned for these reviews that focused on improving the impact on professionals and improving public safety. Research conducted for us by MORI considered public attitudes to medical regulation and revalidation.

Hospital Emergency Readmissions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many emergency readmissions there have been to hospitals for those aged  (a) 50 to 64,  (b) 65 to 74 and  (c) 75 years and over in each quarter of each of the last three years, broken down by primary care trust; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Currently the best computations of readmission rates are those released by the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development. They publish their data on their website at:
	www.nchod.nhs.uk
	Presently there are three years' data from 2001-02 to 2003-04 at primary care trust (PCT) level, for the age groups 0-15, 16-74 and 75 and over. There are plans to produce by March 2007 an eight-year series up to 2005-06 at PCT and trust level.
	Other analyses from this source could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

Midwives

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her policy is on the Birthrate Plus work force planning tool.

Rosie Winterton: Birthrate Plus is one of a number of useful work force planning tools that are available to local planners in the national health service.

Midwives: Manpower

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwives there were in the NHS in England in each year since 1997, expressed in terms of  (a) headcount and  (b) whole-time equivalent, broken down by region.

Rosie Winterton: This information has been placed in the Library.

Midwives: Students

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many student midwife training places were commissioned in each academic year since 1997; how many student midwives  (a) entered training,  (b) were in training and  (c) qualified as midwives in each of those years; what the total cost to the public purse was of (i) all aspects of that training and (ii) the financial support paid to individual student midwives (1) in total and (2) on average per student midwife for each year; and what the attrition rate for student midwives was in each year.

Rosie Winterton: Table 1 shows the number of midwife training places which were commissioned and the number of student midwives in training in each academic year since 1997.
	The Department does not collect centrally the number of students who qualified as midwives in each of these years.
	The total cost of training student midwives for each year since 1997 is set out in table 2.
	The financial support paid to individual student midwives in total and on average per student midwife for each year since 1997 has been placed in the Library.
	Information for England on the percentage of pre-registration midwifery students who have left their university course is given in table 3. Each year represents an intake year. A complete measure of attrition for a cohort of students will include withdrawal figures for each year of their programme. No data are available for 2001-02. The attrition data for the 2002-03 academic year onwards administered by the higher education statistics agency are in the process of being analysed by the health services information centre.
	
		
			  Table 1: midwifery pre-registration training commissions/student midwives in training 
			   Degree  Diploma  Other  Total 
			 1996-97 161 498 993 1,652 
			 1999-2000 395 620 757 1,772 
			 2001-02 621 525 732 1,878 
			 2002-03 709 724 677 2,110 
			 2003-04 753 716 757 2,226 
			 2004-05 895 744 735 2,374 
			 2005-06 1,042 517 661 2,220 
			  Source: Quarterly monitoring return 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: the total cost of training student midwives for each year since 1997 
			  Financial year  Total cost (£ million) 
			 1997-98 42.6 
			 1998-99 34.6 
			 1999-2000 45.6 
			 2000-01 51.4 
			 2001-02 58.7 
			 2002-03 59.0 
			 2003-04 65.8 
			 2004-05 79.4 
			 2005-06 82.2 
			  Notes: 1. 1997-1998, 2004-2005 and 2005-06 are forecasts (actual outturn was only collected from 1999 onwards). No data are available for 2006-07. 2. Data in the above time series are not strictly comparable due to changes in the way data were collected. 3. Average bursary costs for nurses and midwives added to tuition costs from 2000-01 onwards. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: attrition rates of student midwives since 1997 
			   Percentage of midwives failing to complete courses 
			 1997-98(1) 18.23 
			 1998-99(1) 17.17 
			 1999-2000(1) 14.59 
			 2000-01(1) 6.7 
			 (1) These data are not complete as they do not include withdrawal rates for each year of the course for the intake year specified.

NHS Finance

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which  (a) hospitals,  (b) care trusts and  (c) foundation trusts in London are in budget deficit.

Ivan Lewis: Based on the information in our quarter 3 2006-07 national health service finance report, we expect the NHS as a whole to achieve net financial balance by the end of March 2007.
	The following table shows NHS trusts in London strategic health authority forecasting a year end deficit at quarter 3 2006-07. There were no care trusts in London forecasting a deficit at quarter 3. The Department does not collect financial information from hospitals.
	
		
			  NHS trust  2006-07 month nine forecast outturn (deficit) (£000) 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge hospital (15,741) 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals (9,409) 
			 Bromley hospitals (12,894) 
			 Epsom and St. Helier university hospitals (7,277) 
			 Mayday Healthcare (1,800) 
			 Newham university hospital (2,516) 
			 North West London hospitals (25,619) 
			 Queen Elizabeth hospital (36,079) 
			 Queen Mary's Sidcup (5,363) 
			 St. George's Healthcare (5,500) 
			 The Lewisham hospital (11,956) 
			 West Middlesex university (4,453) 
			 Whipps Cross university hospital (30,405) 
			  Source:  Departmental quarter three NHS financial report 2006-07 
		
	
	The following table shows NHS foundation trusts in the London area recording a year to date deficit at the end of the quarter 2, 2006-07. This information has been provided by Monitor. Monitor publishes different quarterly financial information to the Department. Monitor publishes year to date data, the Department publishes forecast outturn and therefore, this information is not comparable. Monitor will publish its quarter 3 2006-07 financial data shortly.
	
		
			  NHS foundation trust  2006-07 month six year to date (Deficit) (£000) 
			 University College London hospital (9,000) 
			 Homerton university hospital (1,000) 
			 Moorfields Eye hospital (900) 
			  Source: Monitor, NHS Foundation Trusts: Report for six-month period to 30 September 2006.

NHS: Maternity Leave

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what her Department's policy is on primary care trusts planning for maternity leave staffing cover;
	(2)  if she will place in the Library her Department's policy on primary care trusts providing staffing cover for front-line staff on maternity leave.

Rosie Winterton: There is no specific policy governing maternity leave staffing cover. This is a matter for local employers. For those staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions of service it is possible to move staff into a higher pay band to fill a position on a temporary basis as per paragraph 6.30 of the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook. The hand book published by NHS Employers, can be found on their website at:
	www.nhsemployers.org/pay-conditions/agenda-for-change.cfm
	The "NHS Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook" is available in the Library.

NHS: Vacancies

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department offers guidance to primary care trusts on maximum acceptable staff vacancy rates  (a) across a trust as a whole and  (b) for non-acute in-patient services.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not offer guidance to primary care trusts about the maximum rate of vacancies they should be carrying. Workforce planning is a matter for local determination.

Tomography

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to include diagnostic ultrasound as a listed service for the purposes of regulation and inspection by the Healthcare Commission; and what discussions she has had with the Healthcare Commission to explore how obstetric diagnosis ultrasound services could be regulated and inspected under existing legislation.

Andy Burnham: Independent hospitals, clinics and medical agencies providing any of the listed services set out in section 2(7) of the Care Standards Act 2000 are subject to regulation by the Healthcare Commission, unless exempted by any regulation made under that Act.
	Diagnostic ultrasound techniques are not separately included as a listed service in section 2(7) of the 2000 Act. However the provision of obstetric services and, in connection with childbirth, medical services are among the listed services. Such services may include the use of some diagnostic ultrasound techniques.
	The Department has no plans to include separately diagnostic ultrasound techniques as a listed service in the future.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Support Agency

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what targets the Child Support Agency has for processing and reducing the volume of cases processed clerically; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what targets the Child Support Agency has for processing and reducing the volume of cases processed clerically; and if he will make a statement.
	The Child Support Agency has been set six targets by the Secretary of State for 2006/07, which were published in the Agency's Business Plan, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library, or on the internet via the following link: www.csa.gov.uk/pdf/English/reports/plan0607.pdf
	Two of these targets relate to the processing and clearing of applications received since the new scheme was introduced in March 2003 and include the Agency's clerical cases. The first concerns the volume of applications being cleared and states that: by 31 March 2007, the Agency will have reduced the volume of uncleared new scheme applications by 25 per cent of the amount outstanding by the end of March 2006.
	The second concerns the speed with which new applications should be processed and states that by 31 March 2007, the Agency will clear 55 per cent of new applications within 12 weeks of receipt and 80 per cent within 26 weeks.
	Reducing the number of clerical cases is dependent on rectifying the existing defects on the Agency's computer system — work will continue over 2007 to resolve these defects. To date the Agency has reduced the amount of new cases that need to be processed clerically by introducing a number of fixes to the computer system. The Agency aims to restore its clerical cases onto the computer system when the system is working effectively.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Child Support Agency

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many additional new scheme Child Support Agency cases were being processed clerically in each month since January 2005; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what proportion of clerical Child Support Agency cases involved parents with care in receipt of benefits in each month since January 2005; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 15 March 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions two related questions:
	how many additional new scheme Child Support Agency cases were being processed clerically in each month since January 2005; and if he will make a statement;
	what proportion of clerical Child Support Agency cases involved parents with care in receipt of benefits in each month since January 2005; and if he will make a statement.
	Information regarding the number of cases being processed clerically is available from March 2005 onwards and is published in table 20 of the December 2006 Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary Statistics, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library, or on the internet via the following link:
	www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/child_support/csa_quarterly_dec06.asp.
	However, the information you have requested about the proportion of those cases that involved parents with care in receipt of benefits is not currently available.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Child Support Agency

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many days training were provided to Child Support Agency staff in the last 12 months.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many days training were provided to Child Support Agency staff in the last 12 months.
	As a result of a capability review under the Operational Improvement Plan, almost 2000 Executive Officers were placed in Team Leader or Complex Caseworker roles.
	The Team Leader training includes sessions on Standards of Client Service and the importance of Quality Assurance in preventing complaints. Management skills training is included providing people with the skills to enable them to deal with attendance management, capability and conduct.
	People identified as Complex Caseworker are receiving up to 16 weeks of training. This training provides Complex Caseworks with technical knowledge, time management skills, case practice, communication skills (to clients and colleagues) and peer assurance in order to maintain accuracy, and enables them to secure client outcomes on high risk and non-compliant clients.
	The information requested is provided in the attached table:
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			   Training days 
			 February 2006 5,627 
			 March 2006 6,142 
			 April 2006 4,718 
			 May 2006 5,384 
			 June 2006 4,159 
			 July 2006 5,250 
			 August 2006 6,963 
			 September 2006 7,986 
			 October 2006 8,724 
			 November 2006 11,590 
			 December 2006 6,998 
			 January 2007 7,970 
			 Total 81,511

Child Support Agency

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency staff received training in each month since commencement of the Operational Improvement Plan; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency staff received training in each month since commencement of the Operational Improvement Plan; and if he will make a statement.
	As a result of a capability review under the Operational Improvement Plan, almost 2000 Executive Officers were placed in Team Leader or Complex Caseworker roles.
	The Team Leader training includes sessions on Standards of Client Service and the importance of Quality Assurance in preventing complaints. Management skills training is included providing people with the skills to enable them to deal with attendance management, capability and conduct.
	People identified as Complex Caseworker are receiving up to 16 weeks of training. This training provides Complex Caseworks with technical knowledge, time management skills, case practice, communication skills (to clients and colleagues) and peer assurance in order to maintain accuracy, and enables them to secure client outcomes on high risk and non-compliant clients.
	The information requested is provided in the attached table.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			   People trained 
			 February 2006 570 
			 March 2006 403 
			 April 2006 232 
			 May 2006 546 
			 June 2006 412 
			 July 2006 442 
			 August 2006 416 
			 September 2006 419 
			 October 2006 344 
			 November 2006 405 
			 December 2006 600 
			 January 2007 297 
			 Total 5,086

Child Support Agency

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) total and  (b) full-time equivalent Child Support Agency staff were engaged in processing (i) old scheme and (ii) new scheme maintenance claims in each month of the last two years for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 23 February 2007
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 15 March 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child support agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) total and (b) full-time equivalent Child support Agency staff were engaged in processing (i) old scheme and (ii) new scheme maintenance claims in each month of the last two years for which figures are available.
	The attached table details the people working on processing new applications for each scheme in full-time equivalents for each month of the last two years. I regret that the information is not available on the number of individual people employed in these areas in each month.
	The clearance process includes all work undertaken on applications for child maintenance until one of the following conditions is met: a parent with care has been identified as claiming Good Cause or is subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision; the application is identified as being change of circumstances on an existing case; the application is identified as being a change of circumstances on an existing case; the application has been closed; or for old scheme cases a maintenance assessment has been carried out and for new scheme cases, a payment arrangement between the parent with care and the non-resident parent is in place.
	The Agency holds only a negligible number of completely unprocessed applications. The amount of work required to achieve clearance, and the length of time involved, varies considerable depending on, amongst other things, the circumstances of the parents and how readily they cooperate with Agency. The work undertaken by the Agency's New Client Teams extends far beyond simply clearing new applications through the computer system. A significant proportion of the work undertaken by the Agency's New Client Teams consists of setting up the first maintenance payments to the parent with care, and retaining responsibility for the growing caseload until the first fully complaint, on time payment is made by the non-resident parent.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			  2005  Old scheme  New scheme 
			 January 142 2,455 
			 February 132 2,465 
			 March 130 2,307 
			 April 109 2,415 
			 May 107 2,407 
			 June 95 2,484 
			 July 94 2,525 
			 August 81 2,570 
			 September 74 2,558 
			 October 72 2,615 
			 November 55 2,719 
			 December 56 2,637 
			
			  2006   
			 January 55 2,604 
			 February 55 2,618 
			 March 52 2,537 
			 April 106 2,831 
			 May 101 2,815 
			 June 100 2,958 
			 July 92 3,075 
			 August 104 3,040 
			 September 96 3,052 
			 October 92 3,050 
			 November 82 3,069 
			 December 80 3,433 
			  Notes: 1. The table includes all Agency people working on child maintenance applications for either the old or new schemes. These people continue working on applications beyond the point at which the application is recorded as cleared until the first full on-time payment has been made. 2. The information is derived from a clerical count provided monthly by each area within the Agency. 3. This count is made in whole time equivalents—there is no comparable count of people involved. 4. The numbers include people in Great Britain and Northern Ireland working for the Agency on cases from Great Britain. 5. People working on old scheme cases on CS2 are included in old scheme totals.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff are employed in each of the six Child Support Agency call centres.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are employed in each of the six Child Support Agency call centres.
	The Agency does not operate a classic call centre model but seeks to route calls to relevant caseworkers. We do however, have a 'Helpline' for general enquiries and for where it is not possible to route calls to caseworkers. This 'Helpline' is operated from six regional centres supporting new scheme clients and one national centre in Liverpool supporting old scheme clients and general enquiries. The number of full time equivalent staff in each centre is shown in the table below.
	
		
			  Call centres  System  Full-time equivalent staff 
			 Dudley CS2 64.84 
			 Hastings CS2 46.82 
			 Falkirk CS2 67.69 
			 Plymouth CS2 66.60 
			 Birkenhead CS2 74.69 
			 Belfast CS2 85.95 
			 Liverpool CSCS 128.90 
			 Total call centre staff  535.49 
		
	
	The Agency has significantly improved its telephony service, and in the nine months to December 2006 answered 97% of calls, compared to 91% in the year ending March 2006, with an average waiting time of 25 seconds, down from 59 seconds in the year ending March 2006.
	I hope you find this response helpful.

Departmental Websites

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many users registered their details to receive e-mail updates from the Pensions Reform website in each of the last six months; and how many people are registered to receive such updates.

James Purnell: At end of January there were 3,665 subscribers to the Pensions Forum website. Figures for last six months are contained in the following table:
	
		
			  Period  Total subscriptions 
			 August 2006 2,292 
			 September 2006 2,935 
			 October 2006 3,355 
			 November 2006 3,476 
			 December 2006 3,640 
			 January 2007 3,665

Departmental Websites

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Pensions Reform blog has cost to administer since it was established.

James Purnell: The Pension Reform blog was launched on the DWP site in July 2006.
	Ongoing maintenance and administration of the blog equates to half the time of a member of staff.

Employment Schemes: Costs

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average cost per unsubsidised job sustained for at least six months was of the  (a) new deal for young people,  (b) new deal 25 plus,  (c) new deal 50 plus and  (d) new deal for disabled people in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Jim Murphy: The information is not available.

Housing Benefit: East Sussex

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the average deduction made per household from which a non-dependent deduction was made from their housing benefit entitlement was in  (a) Eastbourne and  (b) East Sussex in the last period for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many households in  (a) Eastbourne and  (b) East Sussex were subject to non-dependent deductions from housing benefit in the last year for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available below regional level.

National Insurance Numbers

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases have been reported of  (a) an individual using more than one national insurance number and  (b) a national insurance number being used by more than one individual in each year since 1997.

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases have been reported of  (a) an individual using more than one national insurance number and  (b) a national insurance number being used by more than one individual in each year since 1997.

James Plaskitt: Cases of national insurance numbers being used by more than one individual may derive from fraud, customer error or official error; it is not possible to provide a breakdown of numbers from each cause.
	Any fraud-related cases are rigorously pursed by our Fraud Investigation Service.
	Information is only available from 2001 and is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Individuals found to be using more than one national insurance number 
			   Number of cases 
			 2001 586 
			 2002 447 
			 2003 303 
			 2004 513 
			 2005 497 
		
	
	
		
			  Cases of a national insurance number being used by more than one individual 
			   Number of cases 
			 2001 2,539 
			 2002 2,418 
			 2003 2,533 
			 2004 1,896 
			 2005 1,991 
			  Source: Departmental Central Index front-line services.

New Deal

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will break down the number of repeat participants by the number of times each repeated for each New Deal programme in each year since the programme started.

Jim Murphy: More than two thirds of the people who start new deal are new to the programme and, of those who have been on new deal so far this year, less than 10 per cent. have participated more than twice. Some people will move in and out of employment after leaving new deal, but this is inevitable in a dynamic labour market.
	People who suffer long periods of unemployment can find it particularly difficult getting back to work. The longer they are unemployed, the greater the barriers are to getting work. Getting people who face such barriers into work is a considerable achievement and we are working to ensure that every new deal entrant benefits from the adviser support and advice they receive to help them find and remain in employment.
	The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  New deal for young people, participants in year 
			Number of people who have participated 
			   Total participants  Twice  Three times  Four times  Five times  Six times  Seven times  Eight times 
			 1998 214,040 1,450 10 0 0 0 0 0 
			 1999 223,050 24,920 370 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2000 201,500 55,640 3,650 90 0 0 0 0 
			 2001 185,520 52,790 13,190 670 30 0 0 0 
			 2002 184,590 46,500 18,080 2,880 170 10 0 0 
			 2003 190,030 44,800 18,460 5,100 590 40 0 0 
			 2004 173,090 39,310 15,820 5,100 950 90 10 0 
			 2005 170,950 38,970 14,970 4,930 1,050 110 10 10 
		
	
	
		
			  New deal 25-plus, participants in year 
			Number of people who have participated 
			   Total participants  Twice  Three times  Four times  Five times  Six times  Seven times 
			 1998 78,230 40 0 0 0 0 0 
			 1999 148,880 20,140 90 0 0 0 0 
			 2000 124,470 41,720 8,330 70 0 0 0 
			 2001 124,600 28,330 10,180 1,230 20 0 0 
			 2002 122,190 23,640 11,740 3,680 160 0 0 
			 2003 113,930 22,710 9,660 3,360 350 30 0 
			 2004 104,140 22,550 8,450 3,530 850 60 10 
			 2005 89,600 19,780 7,640 3,270 1,110 100 20 
		
	
	
		
			  New deal for lone parents, participants in year 
			Number of people who have participated 
			   Total participants  Twice  Three times  Four times  Five times  Six times  Seven times  Eight times 
			 1998 15,980 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 1999 105,800 5,000 130 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2000 116,020 13,590 1,020 50 0 0 0 0 
			 2001 121,390 20,070 2,940 320 20 0 0 0 
			 2002 151,610 33,380 7,060 1,180 190 20 0 0 
			 2003 163,130 39,080 11,220 2,620 560 100 10 10 
			 2004 180,460 46,390 15,820 4,740 1,280 320 80 30 
			 2005 165,800 45,100 17,840 6,390 1,980 610 170 40 
		
	
	
		
			  New deal for partners, participants in year 
			   Total participants  Twice 
			 2004 1,980 0 
			 2005 3,540 40 
		
	
	
		
			  New deal for disabled people, participants in year 
			Number of people who have participated 
			   Total participants  Twice  Three times  Four times  Five times  Six times 
			 2001 7,370 180 20 10 0 0 
			 2002 35,640 1,430 110 20 0 0 
			 2003 60,600 3,420 450 70 10 0 
			 2004 100,040 7,330 880 130 20 0 
			 2005 135,760 11,400 1,580 300 60 10 
		
	
	
		
			  New deal 50-plus, participants in year 
			  Number of people who have participated 
			   Total participants  Twice  Three times 
			 2004 37,170 140 0 
			 2005 54,130 710 10 
			  Notes: 1. Latest complete calendar year data is to December 2005. 2. New deal for 25-plus data for 1998 relate to July to December. 3. New deal for lone parents data for 1998 relate to October to December. 4. New deal for partners data are only available from 2004 and for that year is for April to December. 5. New deal for disabled people data for 2001 relate to July to December. 6. New deal 50-plus data are only available from 2004. 7. People are included as participating in a particular year if they are recorded as participating at any point in that year. People participating on the programme in more than one year are included in the table in each relevant year. 8. Components may not sum to total due to rounding.

New Deal

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of  (a) men and  (b) women leaving (i) the New Deal for Young People and (ii) New Deal 25 Plus (A) found a sustained job, (B) returned to out-of-work benefit immediately on leaving the programme and (C) returned to out-of-work benefit within 12 months, in each year since each programme was established.

Jim Murphy: The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  New deal for young people 
			   Immediate destination( 1)  on leaving new deal for young people  
			   Percentage of leavers to sustained employment( 2)  Percentage of leavers to employment and benefits( 3)  Percentage of leavers to out-of work benefits( 4)  Percentage returning to claim out-of-work benefits( 4)  within 12 months of leaving the programme( 5) 
			  Men 
			 1998 53 3 10 38 
			 1999 46 5 22 53 
			 2000 44 4 24 55 
			 2001 42 3 23 56 
			 2002 41 3 22 55 
			 2003 41 3 22 53 
			 2004 39 3 21 52 
			 2005 35 2 24 — 
			  
			  Women 
			 1998 46 2 16 31 
			 1999 42 5 28 42 
			 2000 41 4 30 43 
			 2001 40 3 29 45 
			 2002 38 3 30 46 
			 2003 38 3 30 45 
			 2004 37 3 29 43 
			 2005 34 2 30 — 
		
	
	
		
			  New deal 25 plus 
			   Immediate destination( 1)  on leaving new deal 25 plus  
			   Percentage of leavers to sustained employment( 2)  Percentage of leavers to employment and benefits( 3)  Percentage of leavers to out-of work benefits( 4)  Percentage returning to claim out-of work benefits( 4 ) within 12 months of leaving the programme( 5) 
			  Men 
			 1998 — — — 30 
			 1999 — — — 33 
			 2000 — — — 35 
			 2001 32 2 39 37 
			 2002 28 2 47 37 
			 2003 27 2 48 38 
			 2004 31 3 43 39 
			 2005 28 2 45 — 
			  
			  Women 
			 1998 — — — 30 
			 1999 — — — 32 
			 2000 — — — 33 
			 2001 30 8 42 32 
			 2002 26 1 48 34 
			 2003 25 1 48 32 
			 2004 29 10 44 32 
			 2005 27 10 46 — 
			 (1) An immediate destination is defined as within two weeks of leaving new deal. For new deal 25 plus, this information is only available from April 2001 onwards. (2) Sustained employment is defined as not returning to claim jobseeker's allowance for 13 weeks after leaving new deal for young people or new deal 25 plus to a job. (3) Includes people who gain a job which lasts beyond 13 weeks but who are also claiming a benefit during, or for part of that period. (4) Includes jobseeker's allowance, incapacity benefit and income support. (5) Data are up to December 2004 to allow for a 12 month gap from leaving the programme.  Note: All data are for complete calendar years apart from 1998 which, for new deal 25 plus, are from July when the programme started.  Source: Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate

New Deal

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on the New Deal since 2 May 1997; and how many jobs have been created by the scheme.

Jim Murphy: Up to March 2006, £4.815 billion had been spent on the new deal programme since the programme started in January 1998.
	Up until May 2006, 1,673,030 people had been helped into work through new deal.

New Deal

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total expenditure on providing for participants to attend a certified vocational training course when taking part in the Employment Option of the New Deal for Young People was in each year since 1998.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 28 February2007
	The information is not available.

Pensions: Insolvency

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the cost of meeting the judgment of the Ombudsman's report on the matter of the employee pensions failure  (a) over the next 60 years and  (b) on an annual basis.

James Purnell: The High Court directed the Secretary of State to reconsider the first recommendation in the ombudsman's report "Trusting in the Pension's Promise". The court did not require the Department to make any payment. An estimate of the cost of implementing all of the ombudsman's proposals is given in the annex to the Government's Response to the Report by the Parliamentary Ombudsman published in June 2006.

Pensions: Uprating

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received someone else's personal details with their recent pensions uprating notification; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: In all, approximately 26,000 customers received uprating notifications intended for someone else. Of that number, approximately 24,500 were state pension customers and the remaining 1,500 were Jobcentre Plus customers in receipt of either bereavement benefit or widows benefit.
	The process involved in distributing uprating notifications, including quality control processes, have been examined and enhanced to prevent this happening again. The volume of existing checks has also been increased to help provide further assurance.

Procurement Projects

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the 20 largest procurement projects initiated by his Department since May 1997 were; what the  (a) original budget,  (b) cost to date and  (c) consultancy fees were; and what the final cost was of each project which has been completed.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions conducts most of its procurements under competitively let framework agreements for common goods and services. Information on the few cases where procurements were conducted as projects since the Department was formed in 2001 is provided as follows. The Department has conducted a large number of other projects to achieve business change and modernise our systems. Many of these included procurement exercises that were not conducted as projects in their own right and it is not possible to isolate the related costs of these without incurring disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Project to procure:  Estimated contract value  Cost to date  Consultancy 
			 Estates Services (PRIME) 11,220 3,960 7 
			 Post Office Card Account 1,000 625 0 
			 Medical Services (to 2015) 666 80 0 
			 Medical Services (to 2005) 534 n/a 0 
			 Office Services(1) 331 n/a 0.9 
			 Banking services 70 9 0 
			 Record Storage 69 9 0.015 
			 Post services 60 1 0 
			 n/a = not applicable (1) This Office Service contract expired in 2007 and the new contract begins on 1 March 2007.

Stakeholder Pensions

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000 and 2005 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

James Purnell: The Stakeholder Pensions Regulations 2000, and the Stakeholder Pensions (Amendment) Regulations 2005 were accompanied by regulatory impact assessments (RIAs), copies of which are available in the Library. These included an assessment of the impact of the regulations on business.
	The cost to the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) of implementing the regulations, if any, is not separately identifiable.

State Retirement Pensions

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what proportion of retired persons reaching retirement age in the relevant year with a deficiency in National Insurance contributions qualifying for a full Category A state pension and being entitled to a Category B state pension by virtue of the National Insurance contributions of a spouse were women, in each year since 1979;
	(2)  what proportion of divorced retired persons reaching retirement age in the relevant year with a deficiency in National Insurance contributions qualifying for a full Category A state pension and needing to rely upon the National Insurance contributions of a former spouse under section 48 of the Social Security (Contributions and Benefits) Act 1992 or its precursor were women, in each year since 1979.

James Purnell: The information requested is not available.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Children: Maintenance

David Kidney: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what progress she has made in helping Jane-Louise Green, a constituent of the hon. Member for Stafford, to secure child support through the courts for her daughter from the estate of the deceased father.

Harriet Harman: My Department have pressed the Trinidadian authorities for an update as to the progress of Ms Green's case. The Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders Section (REMO) has discharged all its responsibilities in lodging the application and in pressing the Trinidadian authorities for updates in this matter. On 21 February 2007 officials sent a letter to the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Trinidad lodging a formal complaint concerning the lack of response to the previous correspondence and to the discourtesy shown to Ms Green regarding her case. A request was also made for the outcome of the appeal process. To date no response has been forthcoming from Trinidad but officials will continue to press until the information sought is forthcoming and are now in contact with the High Commission in Trinidad to ascertain what assistance they can provide.

Divorce

Julie Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many decrees of judicial separation were granted in England and Wales in each year since 1979.

Harriet Harman: Decrees of judicial separation granted in England and Wales since 1979 are tabled as follows. Figures for 2006 are not yet available.
	
		
			   Petitions filed  Decrees of Judicial separation granted 
			 1979 3,650 1,640 
			 1980 5,423 2,560 
			 1981 6,036 3,334 
			 1982 7,480 4,026 
			 1983 7,430 4,852 
			 1984 6,098 4,445 
			 1985 3,479 2,344 
			 1986 3,428 1,768 
			 1987 3,199 1,659 
			 1988 2,925 1,917 
			 1990 2,990 1,794 
			 1991 2,588 1,747 
			 1992 2,434 1,452 
			 1993 2,251 1,413 
			 1994 4,358 1,350 
			 1995 3,349 1,543 
			 1996 2,795 1,199 
			 1997 1,078 589 
			 1998 916 519 
			 1999 882 696 
			 2000 650 540 
			 2001 535 925 
			 2002 1,001 560 
			 2003 826 467 
			 2004 742 419 
			 2005 692 387

Freedom of Information: Members' Constituency Work

Roger Gale: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will bring forward measures to prevent correspondence between hon. Members and  (a) health authorities and  (b) hospital trusts relating to constituents' case work from being released under Freedom of Information requests.

Bridget Prentice: The Freedom of Information Act already contains a number of exemptions that protect information held by public authorities where appropriate. This may include information contained in hon. Members' correspondence. The hon. Gentleman may be aware that the right hon. Member for Penrith and The Border has tabled a Private Member's Bill which would amend the Freedom of Information Act to create a single exemption to cover hon. Members' correspondence.

Lords Lieutenant

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which Deputy Lords Lieutenant have been appointed since 1997; and how many of those are  (a) female,  (b) black and  (c) Asian;

Harriet Harman: I refer my right hon. Friend to my answer of 7 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2042W. This list of Deputy Lieutenants will also include up-to-date ethnic and gender monitoring statistics. The information will be sent to my right hon. Friend and copies of these documents will be placed in the Library of the House.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Departments: Silverfish Productions

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what contracts her Department awarded to Silverfish Productions Limited in each of the last three years; and at what cost.

Angela Smith: The Department has not awarded any contracts to Silverfish Productions Ltd. in the last three years.

Departments: Work Permits

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many work permits were applied for by  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government was created on 5 May 2006.
	In each of the last five years no work permits have been applied for; this response includes the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Figures for the Department's agencies are not held centrally.

Fire Service: Pensions

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance has been issued by her Department on the eligibility of multi-tier entrants for future membership of the firefighters' pension scheme; what assessment she has made of the impact of such guidance on the multi-tier entry schemes, with particular reference to the pilot graduate entry scheme operated by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and other fire services; what representations she has received from the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority on such issues; and if she will make a statement. [R]

Angela Smith: Eligibility for membership of the New Firefighters' Pension Scheme is restricted to firefighters whose role on taking up employment with a fire and rescue authority includes resolving operational incidents, or leading and supervising others in the resolution of such incidents. In consequence those who join the Fire and Rescue Service at station manager, or above, are excluded from the scheme. Guidance to this effect has been issued to the Service.
	The justification for a separate pension scheme with a normal pension age of 60 is that the duties of an operational firefighter are physically onerous and require high standards of physical fitness. These particular standards do not apply for senior management posts and therefore membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme, with a normal pension age of 65, is considered more appropriate.
	The issue was fully discussed by the highly representative Firefighters' Pension Committee during consultation on the new pension arrangements. The provision reflects the outcome of that discussion.
	Correspondence has been received from the Commissioner, London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, and a response is being given setting out our position.

Housing: Air Pollution

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the percentage of private homes in the borough of  (a) Richmond-upon-Thames and  (b) Kingston-upon-Thames which have carbon monoxide levels higher than those deemed safe by the World Health Organisation.

Angela Smith: holding answer 8 March 2007
	No specific data on carbon monoxide levels are available at local authority levels.
	Combustion safety in buildings is covered by Part J, Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems, of the Building Regulations. Gas installation is further covered by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations. These set out the standards and precautions that should be taken when installing combustion appliances.
	General accident statistics have shown that there has been an upward trend in low level (non fatal) carbon monoxide poisoning but it is not clear whether this is due to better diagnosis or other issues. The Department of Health issues regular guidance to general practitioners on the symptoms and effects of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Local Government: EC Action

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the timetable is for ratifying the European Charter of Local Self-Government;
	(2)  what discussions she has had with  (a) the Local Government Association,  (b) London councils and  (c) other representative local government bodies on the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

Phil Woolas: The Government ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government on 24 April 1998.
	Ratification was widely welcomed by local government as being a symbol of the Government's commitment to a new and constructive partnership with local government, a commitment that we are continuing to develop not least through the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill currently before the House.

Lyons Inquiry

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to publish the Lyons Report.

Phil Woolas: The final report of the Lyons Inquiry will be published around the time of the Budget 2007.

Members: Correspondence

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will answer the letter of 8 May 2006 from the hon. Member for Chichester on behalf of his constituent Stephen Crossley.

Angela Smith: My noble Friend Baroness Andrews has now replied to the hon. Gentleman's letter. I apologise for the unacceptably long delay in replying which was unfortunately due to an administrative error.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Bank Services: Fees and Charges

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions she has had with representatives of the banking industry on the effect of bank charges on levels of social exclusion.

Edward Balls: I have been asked to reply.
	Government Ministers and officials hold discussions with the banking industry on a wide range of issues as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Business: EC Action

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the Prime Minister's response to the hon. Member for North Essex following the statement on the European Council of 12 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 35-36, if she will produce an assessment of the cost to UK business of EU administrative burdens; and if she will produce quarterly figures to show how it changes in future years.

Hilary Armstrong: 19 Government Departments and regulators undertook an exercise, supported by industry, to measure the administrative burdens that impact businesses and the third sector as a result of both domestic and international regulations (including those from the EU).
	Upon the completion of these exercises, the Government set net targets to reduce administrative burdens by 2010. These were followed by publication of Simplification plans to deliver the savings. The estimated administrative burdens for each Department are available in each Department's simplification plan.
	Copies of these plans are available online at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regulation/reform/simplifying/plans.asp
	Copies are also available in the Library for the reference of Members.
	These plans will be updated annually to outline progress.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Departments: Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how much has been spent on  (a) involuntary and  (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in his Department since its formation; how much is planned to be spent in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much his Department spent on  (a) involuntary and  (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since its formation; how much is planned to be spent in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

John Prescott: Staff in my Department are seconded from the Department for Communities and Local Government. My Office has not spent anything on these schemes.

Ministerial Duties

John Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his diary arrangements were during each period for which he has assumed the Prime Minister's responsibilities in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

John Prescott: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) on 12 July 2006,  Official Report, columns 1384-85.

Primary Care Trusts

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how often the  (a) Prime Minister's Decision Unit and  (b) Cabinet Office Impact Review Team visit each primary care trust; and whether the reports resulting from their visits are made public.

Hilary Armstrong: I have been asked to reply.
	The Prime Minister's Delivery Unit visits a sample of PCTs to gain a deeper understanding of the delivery of Government policy. The Unit has visited some PCTs more than once to track delivery issues over time. The reports resulting from these visits constitute confidential advice to Ministers and are not published. The Cabinet Office does not have an Impact Review Team.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Darfur

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contingency plans the Government have drawn up to implement possible international intervention in Darfur.

Margaret Beckett: There is already substantial international intervention in Darfur. The African Union (AU) has deployed a peacekeeping force and the UN continues to mount its largest humanitarian operation in the world there. The international community is seeking to reinforce the AU force with UN elements, culminating in the creation of a much larger hybrid UN/AU force. And, the AU and UN are working for the resumption of the political process in Darfur.
	The Government have been at the forefront of international action on Darfur. We have contributed £190 million to the humanitarian relief effort since April 2004 and £67 million to the AU force. We are pressing the AU and the UN for rapid movement on the political process and on the UN's military support package.

Darfur

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what timetable the Government have set for progress on the implementation of phase 3 of the international force in Darfur; what further steps she expects to take if deadlines are not met; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: We are pressing the UN and the African Union (AU) to agree as rapidly as possible on the details of phase 3 of the UN's support package to the AU Mission in Sudan (ie the creation of the hybrid UN/AU force), and to implement it as soon as possible thereafter. If the Government of Sudan fail to co-operate with implementation, the international community will need to consider what measures to take against them in consequence.

Darfur: Military Aircraft

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects on the  (a) humanitarian and  (b) security situation in Darfur of the implementation of a no-fly-zone in Darfur.

Margaret Beckett: The situation in Darfur is totally unacceptable, the overall security situation is poor, and humanitarian access is precarious. We would need to take careful account of the effects on the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur of any measure such as sanctions or a no-fly-zone that we sought to impose with respect to that territory.

Darfur: Military Aircraft

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what preparations the Government are making with NATO allies for the implementation of a no-fly-zone in Darfur.

Margaret Beckett: The Government of Sudan have consistently failed to protect their citizens in Darfur. The time has come to apply tough measures against them. We are working on the extension of the UN arms embargo on Darfur to the whole of Sudan and the imposition of further sanctions against individuals in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1591 (2005). We would consider further measures, such as a no-fly-zone, if the Government of Sudan continued to defy the will of the international community. We are discussing with close allies what we would do in this eventuality.

Departments: Work Permits

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many work permits were applied for by  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has not applied for any work permits in the past five years. FCO Services applied for two work permits in 2003.

IPPR

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what funding her Department has provided to  (a) the IPPR and  (b) IPPR Trading Ltd in each year since May 1997; and for what purpose.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made 10 payments to the Institute for Public Policy and Research (IPPR), and no payments to IPPR Trading Ltd since May 1997. The payments range in value from £9.49 to £40,000. It is not possible to establish the precise details relating to earlier payments without incurring disproportionate cost, but from the information available all payments were for goods or services received from the IPPR, rather than funding to this organisation.

Lebanon: Overseas Companies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what visits the British Ambassador in Beirut has made to British-owned companies in Lebanon.

Kim Howells: Since her arrival in Beirut in early October 2006, the British ambassador has met with representatives of a number of British-owned companies actively involved in Lebanon. The ambassador has also met with members of two outward trade missions to Beirut—these were the Middle East Association and British Expertise. In addition, the UK Trade and Investment representatives in Beirut are continuously engaged in promoting British business interests in Lebanon.

Nepal: Elections

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries will send international observers to the forthcoming elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal.

Kim Howells: Although dates for elections to a Constituent Assembly in Nepal have yet to be confirmed, a number of countries have already approached the UN team in Kathmandu to offer support. In particular, Japan has recently indicated that it is prepared to send election monitors. South Korea has also agreed to provide computer equipment to the Election Commission.
	The European Commission sent an election exploratory mission to Nepal in February and is now considering the possibility of sending a team of election monitors together with other forms of assistance to ensure that the elections are free and fair.
	Until Prime Minister Koirala formally announces dates for the elections, it is difficult for countries to commit to providing international observers. In advance of this decision, we are working, through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development Global Conflict Prevention Pool, with the Carter Centre and the Asia Foundation to ensure a wide deployment of both independent national observers and international monitors to the elections.

Nepal: Elections

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that the elections to the Constituent Assembly in Nepal are free and fair.

Kim Howells: In advance of the elections, we are working hard to help the Government of Nepal to provide conditions in which political parties are able to campaign and voters cast their votes free from threats, intimidation and violence. We are working in partnership with the Election Commission, the UN and a number of Government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to ensure that elections to the Constituent Assembly are free and fair. Our support to the election process ranges widely from co-funding the work of the UN Mission in Nepal in the weapons monitoring process to a contribution directly to the Peace Fund, which aims to address voter education. In addition, we have contributed funds to the Election Commission and also to the Carter Centre who will provide long-term observers to the elections as well as to the Asia Foundation to bring together local NGOs to monitor the elections.
	The forthcoming elections to a Constituent Assembly in Nepal will be key to sustaining the momentum of the current peace process. However, it is vital that they are credible, free and fair and that they allow a voice to marginalised groups. We will continue to work with the Government of Nepal, our international partners and NGOs to ensure free and fair elections take place.

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of recent conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and terrorists in the Batticaloa district; and what estimate she has made of the number of internally displaced persons who have been affected by the conflict.

Kim Howells: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the written answer that I gave to him on 13 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 246-247W.
	We understand that hostilities between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Batticaloa have resulted in the displacement of over 100,000 people. This number is likely to rise. The Department for International Development is considering a UN request for donor contributions to the Common Humanitarian Action Plan for Sri Lanka.

Sudan: Sanctions

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what measures are part of the Plan B package of sanctions against the Government of Sudan; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions she has had with her  (a) US,  (b) EU and  (c) African Union counterpart on the Plan B sanctions against the Government of Sudan; what the outcome was of these discussions; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: The situation in Darfur is totally unacceptable. The Government of Sudan and rebel groups are regularly violating the ceasefire, as well as various UN Security Council Resolutions.
	The UK has consistently made clear that tougher measures should follow if the Government of Sudan and rebel groups fail to abide by their commitments. We believe the time has now come to act. We want to see the UN's arms embargo on Darfur extended to the whole of Sudan and sanctions imposed on a further set of individuals in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1591 (2005). We are pressing other members of the Security Council to agree these measures and have already made the case for them with our EU partners. Following our lobbying, the EU's General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting on 5 March agreed strong conclusions supporting the need for further action from the UN Security Council.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Anabolic Steroids: Misuse

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to tackle the  (a) use and  (b) sale on the internet of anabolic steroids.

Vernon Coaker: The Government recognise the harms associated with the misuse of anabolic steroids and have controlled their availability under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. This is only one part of the effort to reduce misuse. Education and prevention are key measures. The FRANK campaign makes it clear that the misuse of steroids is dangerous and can lead to some potentially fatal medical problems. The harmful short and long-term effects of anabolic steroid use are also described in the most recent version of the Department of Health publication Dangerousness of drugs (2003). Needles and syringe exchange services are also available to provide harm reduction paraphernalia to those who are at risk of blood borne virus infection (HIV, hepatitis B and C) by sharing injecting equipment.
	The Government and the law enforcement agencies take very seriously the use of the internet for the advertising, and in some cases the sale, of controlled drugs. Where a website is hosted by a UK Internet Service Provider (ISP) and contains material which is illegal, the agencies can issue the ISP concerned with a notice and take down order to remove the offending material. UK ISPs have a very good record of removing such sites following notification.

Anabolic Steroids: Misuse

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps police forces are taking to tackle the availability of anabolic steroids.

Vernon Coaker: It is an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Act to produce, supply or possess/import/export with intent to supply without a licence. Police forces have operational discretion when enforcing the law.

Angel Lodge, Wakefield

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to make an announcement on whether the bid to site initial accommodation facilities at Angel Lodge in Wakefield has been successful.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 17 January 2007
	We have decided to use Angel Lodge to offer initial accommodation for asylum seekers in Wakefield. This facility will be used to complement similar facilities already operating in Leeds and Barnsley. We expect first entrants to the property in the week beginning 19 March and will operate the site at a reduced capacity in the first instance.

Animal Welfare: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of animal abuse occurred in Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Antisocial Behaviour

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the number of antisocial behaviour co-ordinators in England and Wales.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 9 March 2007
	The Home Office currently provides each Crime and Disorder Reduction partnership with 25,000 via the Safer Stronger Communities Fund to assist local areas tackle antisocial behaviour through the appointment of ASB co-ordinators. Ultimately, however, the number of co-ordinators appointed is a matter for each local area to determine.

Antisocial Behaviour

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has held on introducing new measures to combat antisocial behaviour in England and Wales.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 9 March 2007
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary launched the consultation paper Strengthening powers to tackle antisocial behaviour on 14 November 2006 seeking views on proposals for strengthening powers to tackle antisocial behaviour.
	The proposals included: the case for new front-line powers to tackle antisocial behaviour; a deferred Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND); and a new Premises Closure Order.
	The consultation closed on 6 February 2007 and a summary of responses will be published in due course.

Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the number of offenders receiving multiple penalty notices for disorder.

Vernon Coaker: Data on the number of people issued with more than one Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) in England and Wales are not held centrally and no estimate has been made. However, police forces do keep records of PND recipients on local databases which help inform local operational decisions. Forces are also required to enter details of PNDs issued for recordable offences onto the Police National Computer, but not all PND offences are recordable.

Asylum: Russia

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals were granted asylum in the UK, based upon a well founded fear of persecution by  (a) the Russian Federation and  (b) other territories included in Part II of the Extradition Act 2003 in each year since 2000; and how many grants of asylum from the Russian Federation in each year were related to events in Chechnya.

Liam Byrne: The requested information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.
	Information on asylum decisions is published in quarterly web pages and in the annual statistical bulletin Asylum Statistics United Kingdom. Copies of these publications and others relating to general immigration to the UK are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigratibn1.html.

CCTV: Eastbourne

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many publicly-funded CCTV cameras were in operation in Eastbourne in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: No data on the number of publicly-funded CCTV cameras operating on a local or on a national level are centrally held by the Home Office.

Community Support Officers: East Sussex

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers there were in  (a) Eastbourne and  (b) East Sussex in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: Police community support officers (PCSOs) were introduced as part of the Police Reform Act 2002; therefore data for PCSO strength are available from 2002-03 onwards.
	PCSO strength data are not centrally collected at the borough level; therefore figures for Eastbourne are not available. PCSO strength data are not centrally collected at the county level, so figures for East Sussex are not available. PCSO strength data are collected at the force level, so data for Sussex police force for the requested time periods are given in the table.
	PCSO strength data will be centrally collected at the force basic command unit level from 2006-07 onwards.
	
		
			  Police community support officer strength( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  for Sussex police as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2006( 3) 
			  Police force: Sussex 
			  At 31 March each year  Number 
			 2003 22 
			 2004 83 
			 2005(4) 228 
			 2006(4) 257 
			 (1) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Full-time equivalent includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (3) Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03. (4) Strength figures as at 31 March 2005 onwards include those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Therefore these figures are not comparable with those provided for other years in the table.

Crime: Bus Services

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many reported crimes committed on bus services in the Greater London area there were in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2005 and  (c) 2004;
	(2)  how many robberies of personal property were reported as having been committed on public buses in the Greater London area in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2005 and  (c) 2004;
	(3)  how many physical assaults on public buses in the Greater London area were reported in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2005 and  (c) 2004; and how many of these assaults were on (i) drivers and (ii) passengers.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not available centrally. Offences committed in relation to bus services cannot be separately identified in the recorded crime series.

Crime: Hospitals

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were committed in each hospital in each of the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by type of crime.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 9 March 2007
	The information requested is not available from the recorded crime statistics. Crimes specifically occurring in hospitals cannot be separately identified in this data series.

Crimes of Violence

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many cases of  (a) violent crime and  (b) serious violent crime were reported in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) England and Wales in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many domestic burglaries were reported in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England and Wales in each year since 1997;
	(3)  how many drug offences were reported in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The available information is given in the following tables. Statistics for the Jarrow constituency are not available centrally and figures for South Tyneside relate to the South Tyneside crime and disorder reduction partnership (CDRP) area.
	
		
			  Table 1: Offences recorded by the police, 1997 
			  Offence  Number 
			  South Tyneside CDRP  
			 Violent crime n/a 
			 More serious violence n/a 
			 Domestic burglary n/a 
			 Drug offences n/a 
			   
			  North East Region  
			 Violent crime 12,307 
			 More serious violence 1,007 
			 Domestic burglary 31,310 
			 Drug offences 1,076 
			   
			  England and Wales  
			 Violent crime 347,064 
			 More serious violence 23,581 
			 Domestic burglary 519,265 
			 Drug offences(1) 23,153 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Trafficking in controlled drugs only for 1997. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Offences recorded by the police, 1998-99 to 2001-02 
			  Number 
			  Offence  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02 
			  South Tyneside CDRP 
			 Violent crime n/a 1,517 1,749 1,919 
			 More serious violence n/a n/a n/a 90 
			 Domestic burglary n/a 1,351 1,337 1,114 
			 Drug offences n/a n/a n/a 509 
			  
			  North East Region 
			 Violent crime 24,374 26,097 25,113 30,322 
			 More serious violence 1,114 1,227 1,185 1,319 
			 Domestic burglary 28,806 24,300 21,720 23,614 
			 Drug offences 6,442 6,460 6,397 7,230 
			  
			  England and Wales 
			 Violent crime 605,797 703,105 733,374 813,121 
			 More serious violence 27,047 30,445 31,666 32,366 
			 Domestic burglary 473,349 442,602 402,984 430,347 
			 Drug offences 135,945 121,866 113,458 121,393 
			 n/a = Not available.  Notes: 1. The coverage was extended and counting rules revised from 1998-99. Figures from that date are not directly comparable with those for 1997. 2. The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Offences recorded by the police, 2002-03 to 2005-06 
			  Number 
			  Offence  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  South Tyneside CDRP 
			 Violent crime 2,859 2,752 2,504 2,854 
			 More serious violence 82 71 81 83 
			 Domestic burglary 1,169 1,036 792 647 
			 Drug offences 690 672 692 739 
			  
			  North East Region 
			 Violent crime 44,558 45,896 46,488 51,122 
			 More serious violence 1,500 1,597 1,665 1,624 
			 Domestic burglary 21,583 19,550 14,934 13,095 
			 Drug offences 9,014 7,987 7,149 8,280 
			  
			  England and Wales 
			 Violent crime 1,004,599 1,123,710 1,200,991 1,220,198 
			 More serious violence 39,652 44,946 46,126 40,330 
			 Domestic burglary 437,583 402,345 321,461 300,555 
			 Drug offences 143,320 143,511 145,546 178,502 
			  Notes: 1. The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years. 2. The Sexual Offences Act 2003, introduced in May 2004, altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences. 3. Includes British Transport police from 2002-03.

Departments: Equal Opportunities

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has a gender  (a) strategy and  (b) equality action plan in place.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 5 March 2007
	The Home Office and its agencies have a five year Race and Diversity programme which drives their commitment to mainstreaming gender equality into their people priorities, policies and functions. This includes equality impact assessment of policies and functions with particular reference to gender equality.
	The Home Office is working towards publication of a gender equality scheme by 30 April 2007. It is identifying key stakeholders with whom policy officials will work to produce the necessary measures to  (a) eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment and  (b) promote equality of opportunity between women and men.
	All steps, both current and planned, will conform with those set out in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (Public Authorities)(Statutory Duties) Order 2006 (No. 2930) which comes into force on 6 April 2007.

Departments: PFI

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for which future projects his Department is considering a private finance initiative deal; what the estimated lifetime value of each potential contract is; and what period each will cover.

Liam Byrne: The Home Secretary announced when he visited HMP Kennett on 16 February that new prisons would be procured under the private finance initiative, the first two will be at Maghull and Belmarsh West. Following that announcement we will shortly be publishing an advertisement in the  Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) commencing the competition for the first prison. Lifetime costs will be estimated for each prison so that we can compare these estimates against those put forward by bidders. It is estimated that the contracts will last for 25 years from the commencement of operations.

Domestic Violence

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the incidence of violence in the home inflicted on a parent by a dependent child.

Tony McNulty: The British Crime Survey (BCS) routinely provides information on the number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales, but this is not broken down by the relationship between the offender and the victim.
	The 2004-05 and 2005-06 British Crime Surveys also included a self-completion module on intimate violence (partner abuse, family abuse, sexual assaults and stalking). This contained more detailed questions about experiences of intimate violence. Results from the 2005-06 BCS self-completion module were published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 02/07, which included information about the prevalence of family abuse but not by children specifically.
	According to the 2005-06 BCS, 12 per cent. of women and 9 per cent. of men had experienced family abuse (non-physical abuse, threats and/or violence by a parent, step-parent or other family member) since the age of 16. 3 per cent. of women and 2 per cent. of men reported having experienced family abuse in the 12 months prior to their interview.
	The Offending Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS) provides information about the prevalence of offending among the general population. In the survey, if someone reports that they have committed an assault in the last 12 months, they are then asked about their relationship to the victim. According to the latest OCJS figures, taken from the 2005 survey, in 3 per cent. of incidents of assaults by 10 to 25-year-olds, the victims are the parents of the offender. Details for dependent children are not available.

Drugs: Crime

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment has been made of the effect of  (a) drug misuse and  (b) alcohol abuse on criminal behaviour; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 8 February 2007
	The Home Office has commissioned research on the association of drug and alcohol use with specific aspects of offending, and routinely collates information on the proportion of alcohol related violent crime based on an assessment by the victim.
	Published Home Office research estimates that 15 per cent. of all persons arrested for any offence reported that they had committed a crime in order to obtain drugs in the last four weeks. The proportion increased to 46 per cent. among those persons who reported taking heroin, crack or cocaine in the same four-week period. This estimate is published in the Arrestee Survey Annual Report: October 2003-September 2004.
	Information which is routinely published from the British Crime Survey (BCS) provides an assessment of alcohol related violent crime. In 2005-06 it is estimated that victims believed the offenders to be under the influence of alcohol in 44 per cent. of all violent incidents. This information is contained in the statistical publication Crime in England and Wales 2005-06.
	Additional research findings from the Offending Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS) suggest that being drunk once a month or more in the last year is associated with offending among 10 to 25-year-olds. This information is contained in the report Young People and Crime: Findings from the 2005 Offending Crime and Justice Survey and was published in December 2006.

Entry Clearances

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) Iraqi,  (b) Afghan and  (c) Somali nationals have been waiting for determination of their application for indefinite leave to remain in the UK for more than (i) six, (ii) 12 and (iii) 24 months; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 27 February 2007
	The requested information is listed in the following table.
	On the whole these are cases which are not straightforward and require additional consideration.
	
		
			  Non-asylum, indefinite leave to remain applications made in the UK awaiting consideration over each of the listed periods from end of January 2007( 1) 
			  Nationality  Cases from 6 up to but not including 12 months old  Cases from 12 up to but not including 24 months old  Cases 24 months old and over 
			 Afghanistan 275 725 50 
			 Iraq 775 450 25 
			 Somalia 50 100 75 
			 Total 1,100 1,275 150 
			 (1 )Figures rounded to the nearest 25.  Note: The above data are not provided under the National Statistics protocols. They have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Human Trafficking

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish the Government's action plan against trafficking; and if he will make a statement.

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1958W, on human trafficking, in which month he plans to publish the UK Action Plan against human trafficking.

Vernon Coaker: The Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking is currently being developed and we are aiming to publish it in March.

Human Trafficking

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to question 124361, on human trafficking, tabled by the hon. Member for Totnes on 26 February 2007.

Vernon Coaker: A reply to question 124361 tabled on the 26 February 2007 by the hon. Gentleman on the Council of Europe Convention on Human Trafficking was answered on 7 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2048W.

Identity Cards

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the likely rate of error of identity cards.

Joan Ryan: An estimate for the likely number of errors on identity cards produced cannot be finalised until further design and testing of technologies underpinning the issuing process is completed.
	There will be a number of steps taken to ensure the accuracy of information to be recorded on identity cards and held on the National Identity Register. These include the following:
	Checks to verify information provided by applicants against other sources (e.g. identity information held by other Government Departments) in order to confirm its veracity.
	Physical examination of relevant supporting documentation to ensure that it is valid and corresponds with information provided on the application form and the results from the electronic checks mentioned above.
	Attendance in person, allowing information to be clarified and checked with the applicant if necessary.
	The production of effective enrolment procedures and materials. These will be designed on the basis of existing experience gained from the award winning customer service processes in place at the Identity and Passport Service for issuing passports to ensure they are clear and citizen friendly in order to reduce the potential for errors caused by innocent mistakes by applicants.
	The implementation of robust anti-fraud procedures. Security policies and appropriate working procedures are being designed to prevent and detect fraud originating from either applicants or staff members.
	The introduction of the recording of biometric information such as fingerprints. Biometric recording provides the ability to make a much stronger link between the information recorded on the register and the individual associated with it, thus providing a more powerful means to detect attempts by individuals to register multiple identities.

Identity Cards: Fees and Charges

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the likely fee for an individual to obtain a stand-alone identity card without a passport element.

Joan Ryan: My right hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, South (Mr. Clarke) announced on 13 October 2005:
	It will be affordable to set a charge of 30 at current prices for a standalone ID card which is valid for 10 years. This will be affordable within current Home Office spending plans.

Legislation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will subject the  (a) Identity Cards Act 2006 and  (b) Terrorism Act 2006 to post-legislative scrutiny.

Joan Ryan: We have no plans for formal post-legislative scrutiny of this legislation. However, the National Identity Scheme Commissioner, to be appointed under section 22 of the Identity Cards Act 2006, will prepare annual reports which will be published and laid before Parliament on the operation of the National Identity Scheme under the Identity Cards Act. In addition Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, the independent reviewer of terrorist legislation, provides an annual report on the operation of the Terrorism Act 2000. The Terrorism Act 2006 largely amends the 2000 Act and will therefore also be covered by his annual reports.

Licensing Laws

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of  (a) allowing disorderly conduct on licensed premises and  (b) selling alcohol to people who are drunk in each year since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003.

John Reid: Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform show that there were no convictions at all courts under the Licensing Act 2003 for either  (a) allowing disorderly conduct on licensed premises or  (b) selling alcohol to people who are drunk in England and Wales in 2005.
	Court proceedings data for 2006 will be available in the autumn of 2006.

National Identity Register

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what biometric information will be required for an EEA national to acquire a registration certificate under the plans for a national identity register.

John Reid: There are no immediate plans to record biometric information on registration certificates, although we will keep this under review in the light of developments elsewhere in Europe as well as plans for the National Identity Scheme, which include the issue of biometric immigration documents to foreign (non EEA) nationals from 2008 and biometric identity cards to British citizens from 2009.

National Identity Register

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision is being made for the National Identity Register to be used as a population register.

Joan Ryan: holding answer 13 March 2007
	The National Identity Register is intended eventually to contain up-to-date identity information for all United Kingdom residents aged 16 and over. This will include name, age, address, nationality and biometric information, such as photograph and fingerprints. The National Identity Register will then be able to serve as a United Kingdom adult population register.

National Policing Improvement Agency

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from  (a) the chairman designate and  (b) the chief executive designate of the National Policing Improvement Agency on its budget.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 13 March 2007
	The designate NPIA chair and chief executive have met my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and I on a regular basis over the last six months and the NPIA budget for 2007-08 has been an item for discussion on several of those occasions.
	The NPIA chief executive designate and director of resources have been fully consulted during the financial planning round and the provisional budget delegated to the NPIA on 28 February reflected those discussions with the NPIA.

National Policing Improvement Agency

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the budget of the National Policing Improvement Agency to be agreed.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 13 March 2007
	The Home Office issued the NPIA with a provisional 2007-08 budget delegation on 28 February and a formal delegation to the NPIA will take place once a number of residual issues around overhead costs transferring from the Home Office have been resolved.
	The NPIA shadow board discussed the provisional budget at their meeting on 2 March and agreed savings initiatives required by the NPIA to enable the agency to deliver its programme of work within the budget available and subject to resolution of the residual issues mentioned above. The Home Office is satisfied that the budget delegated will meet the agency's requirements for its first year of operation.

Offenders: Deportation

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how much compensation was paid to foreign prisoners detained beyond the expiry of their sentence in 2006;
	(2)  how many foreign prisoners received compensation for being detained beyond the expiry of their sentence in 2006.

Liam Byrne: The director general of the immigration and nationality directorate, wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 19 February 2007 and provided the most accurate and robust information available on compensation payments to foreign national prisoners. A copy of this letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

Offenders: Deportation

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign prisoners had been detained for more than three months after the expiry of their sentence on 31 December 2006.

Liam Byrne: The director general of the immigration and nationality directorate wrote to the Home Affairs Committee on 19 February 2007, providing the most accurate information currently available on the detention of time-served foreign national prisoners. A copy of this letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

Parenting Orders

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many parenting orders arising from criminal conduct or anti-social behaviour were issued in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area; how many were breached; how many prosecutions were mounted against those breaching such orders; how many such prosecutions were successful; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: A table showing parenting orders arising from criminal conduct or antisocial behaviour as reported by the Youth Justice Board using figures recorded by youth offending teams since parenting orders were commenced across England and Wales, follows. These figures are by youth offending team area; they are not recorded by local authority area.
	Youth offending teams do not record numbers breached, prosecutions or convictions for breach. The figures reported to the Home Office on breaches of parenting orders have not been given because their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Quality checks have shown that breach data are unsuitable for publication.
	The Home Office has started a programme of work looking at the quality of existing data on court sentencing and how it might be improved.
	
		
			  All parenting orders imposed (crime and ASB) 
			   2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  Overall total 2000-01 to 2005-06 
			 Barking and Dagenham 6 6 9 9 10 18 58 
			 Barnet 1 7 2 11 4 5 30 
			 Barnsley 8 4 6 17 2 1 38 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 6 1 3 3 8 3 24 
			 Bedfordshire 5 5 5 0 4 7 26 
			 Bexley 0 3 3 2 0 0 8 
			 Birmingham 0 10 9 26 61 30 136 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 0 0 4 0 0 1 5 
			 Blackpool 5 4 2 12 11 20 54 
			 Blaenau, Gwent and Caerphilly 0 4 10 6 8 6 34 
			 Bolton 18 13 12 1 6 3 53 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 8 1 1 4 9 6 29 
			 Bracknell Forest 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bradford 1 9 18 14 13 11 66 
			 Brent 1 0 2 6 9 9 27 
			 Bridgend 0 1 0 10 4 2 17 
			 Brighton and Hove 0 1 3 2 15 8 29 
			 Bristol 4 2 11 2 5 5 29 
			 Bromley 0 2 2 3 0 4 11 
			 Buckinghamshire 1 0 1 1 0 0 3 
			 Bury 2 3 3 2 0 4 14 
			 Calderdale 6 9 22 5 5 10 57 
			 Cambridgeshire 0 1 4 1 2 13 21 
			 Camden 0 0 0 0 7 2 9 
			 Cardiff 0 1 3 2 5 1 12 
			 Carmarthenshire 0 1 6 4 4 7 22 
			 Ceredigion(1) 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 
			 Cheshire 1 1 0 1 5 7 15 
			 Conwy and Denbighshire 5 2 4 1 3 5 20 
			 Cornwall 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 
			 Coventry 1 2 5 1 3 4 16 
			 Croydon 0 7 9 1 37 36 90 
			 Cumbria 8 4 11 5 18 22 68 
			 Darlington 8 7 7 10 16 10 58 
			 Derby 0 1 2 1 5 0 9 
			 Derbyshire 14 7 5 7 9 12 54 
			 Devon 5 0 1 0 0 0 6 
			 Doncaster 6 0 1 2 2 0 11 
			 Dorset 0 8 2 2 10 6 28 
			 Dudley 0 0 3 10 4 12 29 
			 Durham 9 9 4 3 36 15 76 
			 Ealing 3 7 6 1 9 10 36 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 3 6 4 1 5 2 21 
			 East Sussex 14 16 10 12 24 12 88 
			 Enfield 5 2 2 6 7 10 32 
			 Essex 8 8 27 16 22 31 112 
			 Flintshire(2) 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 
			 Gateshead 38 22 15 16 11 12 114 
			 Gloucestershire 0 1 9 0 3 1 14 
			 Greenwich 20 4 7 4 6 13 54 
			 Gwynedd Mon 2 10 0 0 0 1 13 
			 Hackney 0 0 3 1 1 0 5 
			 Halton and Warrington 1 0 0 0 2 0 3 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 4 2 6 8 6 2 28 
			 Haringey 0 0 7 5 9 4 25 
			 Harrow 0 0 1 0 1 3 5 
			 Hartlepool 2 1 5 4 4 2 18 
			 Havering 4 3 3 4 3 2 19 
			 Hertfordshire 26 24 7 7 12 11 87 
			 Hillingdon 0 6 6 7 4 13 36 
			 Hounslow 0 0 0 0 3 2 5 
			 Islington 0 0 0 1 0 4 5 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 8 0 5 5 9 8 35 
			 Kent 10 26 18 15 40 38 147 
			 Kingston-upon-Hull 0 1 1 0 1 1 4 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 11 5 31  2 2 24 
			 Kirklees 4 8 9 11 10 6 48 
			 Knowsley 10 3 1 0 8 4 26 
			 Lambeth 2 13 10 16 30 31 102 
			 Lancashire 39 15 7 17 24 41 143 
			 Leeds 2 0 4 2 1 6 15 
			 Leicester City 15 10 12 5 4 15 61 
			 Leicestershire 1 4 12 5 20 12 54 
			 Lewisham 4 9 2 5 12 8 40 
			 Lincolnshire 4 2 4 2 2  19 
			 Liverpool 1 0 0 2 11 10 24 
			 Luton 5 2 4 1 1 0 13 
			 Manchester 41 2 18 12 18 13 104 
			 Medway 2 5 8 5 26 12 58 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Merton 8 3 2 0 13 15 41 
			 Milton Keynes 0 1 0 0 2 0 3 
			 Monmouthshire and Torfaen 0 6 5 1 1 2 15 
			 Neath Port Talbot 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 0 0 3 5 3 4 15 
			 Newham 3 12 1 11 1 7 35 
			 Newport 2 0 3 3 3 1 12 
			 Norfolk 13 28 28 15 14 14 112 
			 North East Lincolnshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Lincolnshire 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 
			 North Somerset 0 0 1 1 4 5 11 
			 North Tyneside 2 3 12 1 0 4 22 
			 North Yorkshire 16 1 15 8 9 17 66 
			 Northamptonshire 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 
			 Northumberland 0 1 2 2 6 4 15 
			 Nottingham 4 5 4 5 7 4 29 
			 Nottinghamshire 8 4 4 4 4 6 30 
			 Oldham 6 0 0 0 2 0 8 
			 Oxfordshire 3 0 1 1 1 1 7 
			 Pembrokeshire 1 8 3 2 3 1 18 
			 Peterborough 9 21 13 11 23 22 99 
			 Plymouth 0 1 1 2 2 5 11 
			 Powys(1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Reading and Wokingham 7 0 3 5 6 5 26 
			 Redbridge 1 4 4 11 3 16 39 
			 Rhondda Cynon Taff 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 0 9 4 1 3 5 22 
			 Rochdale 4 2 9 3 2 10 30 
			 Rotherham 0 0 3 1 0 0 4 
			 Salford 6 1 11 2 11 18 49 
			 Sandwell 1 15 5 5 5 8 39 
			 Sefton 4 0 0 1 1 0 6 
			 Sheffield 8 4 3 0 7 7 29 
			 Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin 11 15 3 7 10 5 51 
			 Slough 0 2  1 0 0 7 
			 Solihull 4 3 0 3 0 3 13 
			 Somerset 4 13 3 0 1 1 22 
			 South Gloucestershire 1 0 0 0 2 1 4 
			 South Tees 0 3 2 10 2 3 20 
			 South Tyneside 20 15 11 12 16 17 91 
			 Southend-on-Sea 5 2 1 6 12 11 37 
			 Southwark 28 8 18 35 6 0 95 
			 St. Helens 13 8 2 0 2 4 29 
			 Staffordshire 2 5 3 2 2 8 22 
			 Stockport 1 7 8 1 1 3 21 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 1 33 4 1 4 5 48 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 1 7 4 10 11 17 50 
			 Suffolk 19 36 13 31 38 60 197 
			 Sunderland 39 23 76 108 7 31 284 
			 Surrey 3 1 2 2 17 6 31 
			 Sutton 3 11 3 2 3 5 27 
			 Swansea 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 
			 Swindon 0 0 4 0 9 3 16 
			 Tameside 0 1 0 1 4 6 12 
			 Thurrock 5 4 2 2 4 2 19 
			 Torbay 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Tower Hamlets and City of London 0 0 6 8 8 3 25 
			 Trafford 6 9 0 3 4 9 31 
			 Vale of Glamorgan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Wakefield 10 5 0 1 5 0 21 
			 Walsall 2 1 6 3 2 2 16 
			 Waltham Forest 2 2 8 3 7 2 24 
			 Wandsworth 4 17 10 6 13 12 62 
			 Warwickshire 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 
			 Wessex 117 96 120 62 101 106 602 
			 West Berkshire 0 6 1 0 4 2 13 
			 West Sussex 2 3 34 25 15 37 116 
			 Westminster 11 4 4 4 6 9 38 
			 Wigan 20 78 2 2 7 20 129 
			 Wiltshire 3 0 3 5 3 15 29 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 0 3 0 1 0 0 4 
			 Wirral 2 1 14 3 2 2 24 
			 Wolverhampton 6 11 9 4 3 8 41 
			 Worcestershire and Herefordshire 8 6 7 11 30 23 85 
			 Wrexham(2) 0 5 1 10 4 8 28 
			 York 2 2 5 6 3 5 23 
			 Flintshire and Wrexham(2) 200 0 0 0 2   
			 Mid Wales(1) 1 1 0 2 1 0 5 
			 Total 883 936 967 883 1,198 1,292 6,159 
			 (1 )Mid Wales split into Powys YOT and Ceredigion YOT from April 2005 (2 )Flintshire and Wrexham split into Flintshire YOT and Wrexham YOT from July 2001

Parliament Square: Demonstrations

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with police about demonstrations associated with Comic Relief and Red Nose Day within the exclusion zone around Parliament designated by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

John Reid: The Metropolitan police are aware of one planned charity event within the designated area on 10 March.

Police

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition of frontline duties he uses in reference to police work.

Tony McNulty: Frontline policing is measured using the Frontline Policing Measure, which is based on the proportion of police officers engaged in frontline activities. It is calculated using a combination of role codes and activity analysis.
	The Frontline Policing Measure is not a measure of visibility. It measures time spent carrying out core policing duties. Examples of roles considered as front line include: Burglary, CID, Firearms, Community Safety, Dogs, Drugs, Foot/Car/Beat Patrol, Hate Crime, Mounted Police, Special Branch, Marine, Air, Underwater, and Vice.
	CID, Foot/Car/Beat Patrol and Traffic are also subject to activity analysis to determine more accurately the proportion of officer time spent on frontline activities within those roles. Examples of frontline activity include dealing with incidents, visible patrol, searches, dealing with informants, interviewing suspects and special operations.
	Full details of the formula used to calculated the measure and complete lists of frontline roles and activities are contained in the Guidance on Statutory Performance Indicators for Policing 2006/07, published by the Police Standards Unit and available at:
	http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/news-and-publications/publication/performance-and-measurement/SPI_Technical_Guidelines_204.pdf?view=Binary
	Copies of this guidance will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Police

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely change in service provision resulting from the recent changes in the level of resources made available to some police forces.

Tony McNulty: We have delivered a fair funding settlement for the police service in England and Wales in 2007-08. Each police authority will receive an increase in general grant of 3.6 per cent., higher than the 3.1 per cent. increase this year and above inflation. On top of general grant, each police authority will receive a range of other Government funding, including specific grants and capital provision.
	Additionally, we have responded to the police service's call for greater funding flexibility to enable them to get the workforce mix right locally. We will expect the police to continue to make substantial and sustained efficiency savings.

Police

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces have acting chief constables; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 12 March 2007
	There are currently acting chief constables in Thames Valley, Lancashire, Durham, North Yorkshire, Staffordshire and Sussex.
	The acting chief constable of Thames Valley has been appointed substantively and will take up the post on 1 April. The respective police authorities will hold interviews later this month to fill the posts in Lancashire and Durham, and interviews for the North Yorkshire post will be held in mid-April. The posts in Staffordshire and Sussex will be filled substantively later this year.

Police: Biometrics

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the Police Information Technology Organisation biometrics technology roadmap.

John Reid: Copies of the paper titled Identification Roadmap 2005-20, subtitled Biometrics Technology Roadmap for Person Identification within the Police Service prepared by the Police Information Technology Organisation were placed in the Library in 2005. The Commons Library references are as follows: DEP-05/1184 and MGP05/1884.

Police: Compensation

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid in compensation to  (a) convicted criminals and  (b) unconvicted police suspects by (i) each police constabulary, (ii) the Prison Service for England and Wales and (iii) the Scottish Prison Service in each year between 1997 and 2006.

Tony McNulty: Information is not held centrally on compensation payments by each police constabulary to convicted criminals or unconvicted police suspects in England and Wales and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Compensation payments made to prisoners in England and Wales are not broken down by the convicted or unconvicted status of the prisoner. Such a breakdown could again be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Scottish Prison Service is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.

Police: Disciplinary Proceedings

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were  (a) suspended from duty and  (b) fired in the last year for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: The collection and publication of the police complaints and discipline figures is the statutory responsibility of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Police: East Sussex

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there are in  (a) Eastbourne and  (b) East Sussex.

Tony McNulty: Police officer strength data are not centrally collected at the borough level therefore figures for Eastbourne are not available. Police officer strength data are not centrally collected at the county level, therefore figures for East Sussex are not available. Police officer strength data are collected at the force Basic Command Unit (BCU) level, therefore data for Sussex Police BCUs are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Police officer strength (FTE)( 1)  by Sussex police basic command units as at 31 March 2006 
			  Police force: Sussex 
			  Basic command unit  Police officers 
			 Brighton and Hove 490 
			 East Downs 378 
			 Hastings and Rother 312 
			 North Downs 389 
			 West Downs 548 
			 Gatwick 161 
			 Central services 849 
			 Total 3,127 
			 (1) These figures are based on full-time equivalents that have been rounded to the nearest whole number, due to rounding there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of constituent items. Figures include those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Police: Employment

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers  (a) work part-time and  (b) have secondary employment outside the police.

Tony McNulty: The number of police officers who worked part-time is shown in the following table. The Home Office does not collect information on the number of police officers who have secondary employment outside of the police force. The decision to grant officers permission to have secondary employment is determined by the chief officer.
	
		
			  Part-time police officer strength by gender as at 31 March 2006 
			  Headcount( 1) 
			   Female  Male 
			 Avon and Somerset 137 11 
			 Bedfordshire 47 3 
			 Cambridgeshire 34 2 
			 Cheshire 77 0 
			 Cleveland 55 3 
			 Cumbria 67 5 
			 Derbyshire 85 9 
			 Devon and Cornwall 180 19 
			 Dorset 80 4 
			 Durham 46 3 
			 Dyfed-Powys 50 7 
			 Essex 119 38 
			 Gloucestershire 84 7 
			 Greater Manchester 211 11 
			 Gwent 48 4 
			 Hampshire 151 9 
			 Hertfordshire 102 8 
			 Humberside 101 4 
			 Kent 151 15 
			 Lancashire 122 8 
			 Leicestershire 63 10 
			 Lincolnshire 28 4 
			 London, City of 17 3 
			 Merseyside 101 10 
			 Metropolitan Police 956 122 
			 Norfolk 76 4 
			 Northamptonshire 66 15 
			 Northumbria 126 8 
			 North Wales 36 1 
			 North Yorkshire 45 1 
			 Nottinghamshire 96 8 
			 South Wales 92 2 
			 South Yorkshire 104 7 
			 Staffordshire 106 3 
			 Suffolk 69 7 
			 Surrey 74 6 
			 Sussex(2) 177 n/a 
			 Thames Valley 140 21 
			 Warwickshire 31 0 
			 West Mercia 84 4 
			 West Midlands 339 25 
			 West Yorkshire 224 16 
			 Wiltshire 57 7 
			 (1) Headcount figures relate to the total number of individuals employed by the police including those on long-term or other absence. (2) Breakdown of data is not available for male officers in Sussex, the total headcount is 2,404 officers.

Police: Finance

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the statement of the Minister for Policing, Security and Community Safety in the Westminster Hall debate of 28 February 2007,  Official Report, column 277WH, on police funding, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Minister's letter sent to all police forces on 14 February.

Tony McNulty: I have deposited a copy in the Library of the House.

Police: Finance

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which police forces in England and Wales he has received budget projections for the financial years up to and including 2010-11.

Tony McNulty: Broad budget projections for future years have been received from Cleveland, Durham, Lincolnshire and Sussex Police Authorities.
	Tentative overall projections for the police service in England and Wales as a whole have been received from the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities as part of their Comprehensive Spending Review briefing document Sustainable Policing published in November 2006.

Police: Manpower

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Criminal Investigation Department officers are employed in  (a) England and Wales and  (b) the West Midlands police authority area.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 13 March 2007
	The latest available data for 31 March 2006 are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Police officers whose primary function( 1)  is Criminal Investigation Department, as at 31 March 2006 (FTE)( 2) 
			  31 March 2006  FTE( 2) 
			 West Midlands 1,009 
			 England and Wales 16,467 
			 (1) Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations); are recorded under their primary role or function. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual chief constables. (2) Full-time equivalent. These figures include those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Police: Retirement

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police forces conduct exit interviews for police officers leaving the force  (a) at retirement and  (b) before retirement.

John Reid: In November 2005, the Home Office issued guidance to police forces in England and Wales on National Exit Interview procedures. The guidance advises police forces to conduct exit interviews with police officers and police staff who have given notice of voluntary resignation or transfer to another force. Forces may also use the same procedure for officers retiring from the service. Police forces are asked to provide data to the Home Office as part of the Annual Data Requirement. The first set of national data will be available for analysis later this year.

Police: Terrorism

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces in England and Wales do not have their own anti-terrorist unit.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 6 March 2007
	Each police force maintains its own special branch. Special branches play a key role in protecting the public and maintaining order. They acquire and develop intelligence to help protect the public from national security threats, especially terrorism and other extremist activity, and through this they also play a valuable role in promoting community safety and cohesion.

Prison Sentences

Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners aged  (a) 60 to 64 and  (b) over 65 years are serving sentences of (i) one to five, (ii) six to 10 and (iii) over 10 years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 9 March 2007
	The numbers of prisoners detained in prison establishments in England and Wales as referred to in the question are as in this table:
	
		
			  Sentence length 
			   Aged 
			  Years  60-64  65 and over 
			 1-5 259 282 
			 6-10 267 284 
			 Over 10 363 386 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Prisoner Escapes

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the percentage of inmates who, having absconded from custody, commit offences while they remain at large; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 13 March 2007
	The information requested is not held centrally.

Prisoners Release

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) sex and  (b) other offenders who were released from prison before the end of the sentence handed down by the courts in the last 12 months who were considered a (i) high, (ii) medium and (iii) low risk by the (A) Police, (B) Probation and (C) Prison Service were.

Gerry Sutcliffe: This question cannot be answered without incurring disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Foreigners

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners were held at HMP Peterborough as at 31 January 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There were 128 foreign national prisoners detained in Peterborough prison at the end of January 2007.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system.

Prisoners: Wales

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women prisoners in the prison estate have home addresses in Wales, broken down by  (a) category of offence and  (b) length of sentence; and how many of these are on remand.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information for January 2007 is provided in the following table. Where no home address is listed for a prisoner the committal court is used as a proxy address.
	The table shows the number of sentenced women in prison with a home address in Wales broken down by category of offence:
	
		
			  Offence  Total 
			 Burglary 10 
			 Drug offences 23 
			 Frauds and forgery 1 
			 Robbery 7 
			 Sex offences 4 
			 Theft and handling 19 
			 Violence against the person 39 
			 Other offences 33 
		
	
	The following table shows the number of sentenced women in prison with a home address in Wales broken down by sentence length:
	
		
			  Sentence length (months)  Total 
			 6 20 
			 6 to 12 17 
			 12 6 
			 12 to 48 53 
			 = 48 40 
		
	
	There are a further 42 women prisoners with a home address in Wales who are convicted but unsentenced or on remand.

Prisons: Drugs

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his predecessor's statement of 28 September 2004 on extra funding for drug treatment, what additional funding has been spent on extra facilities and counselling for prisoners with drug problems; and how many and what proportion of the prisoners requiring drug treatment received such treatment.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Further to the statement of 28 September 2004, the funding currently allocated for 2006-07 for delivery of the collaborative Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) is 12 million from the Department of Health and 5 million from NOMS.
	The following table shows details of funding allocated for the totality of prison drug treatment for the years 2004-05 to 2006-07:
	
		
			   million 
			  Intervention  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Clinical Services (maintenance-prescribing, detoxification) 11.3 11.3 23.3 
			 CARATs (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice  Through-care services) 23.2 26.7 31.7 
			 Drug Rehabilitation Programmes 13.8 19.4 19.4 
			 YPSMS (Young Persons Substance-Misuse Service) 2.3 2.9 2.9 
			 Total Drug Treatment 50.6 60.3 77.3 
		
	
	Data on the number of prisoners requiring drug treatment are not recorded in the way requested. Instead, prisons rely on epidemiological data which show that, on average, approximately 55 per cent. of prisoners report a serious drug problem prior to prison, with 80 per cent. reporting some prior misuse.
	The following table shows the number of prisoners who engaged in drug treatment over the past two years (individual prisoners may engage in more than one form of treatment):
	
		
			  Intervention  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Clinical Services 53,903 53,323 
			 CARATs 59,025 (1)74,588 
			 Drug Rehabilitation Programmes 7,621 10,743 
			 (1 )Of which: 8,709 juvenile/YPSMS element.

Respect Task Force

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the total annual staffing costs are of his Department's Respect Task Force;
	(2)  what the cost was of setting up his Department's Respect Task Force.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 6 March 2007
	The Respect Task Force was formed from existing staff and utilised existing Home Office accommodation. The only significant set up cost incurred was an external recruitment exercise to boost the staff complement costing 32,000.
	During 2006-07 a total of 1.9 million is projected to have been spent on staffing costs for 36.5 full time equivalents. This includes specialist staff to work directly with frontline practitioners to support and advise them on the implementation of the Respect programme.

Road Traffic Offences

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to centralise data collected by CCTV at the national Auto Number Plate Recognition Data Centre; and how much he has allocated to facilitate the integration of this data.

Tony McNulty: The Government have provided 32.5 million of capital investment between the years 2005 and 2007 to enhance Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) infrastructure at a national, regional and local level. The Home Office is working with colleagues in the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to use approximately 7 million of this funding to progress the development of a national infrastructure, specifically the National ANPR Data Centre (NADCdue to become fully operational during the 2007-08 financial year), and a Back Office Facility (BOF) system. The NADC will hold data collected by police-operated ANPR-linked to closed circuit television (CCTV) systems. The BOF will provide data storage and analysis tools for all police forces in England and Wales, enabling them to use ANPR in a more effective manner to tackle all levels of criminality.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many participants in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme there were in each of the last five years, broken down by country of origin.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 22 January 2007
	The following table shows the number of work cards issued to foreign nationals under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Scheme in calendar years 2004, 2005 and 2006. Some of those individuals may not have travelled to the UK to take up their posts.
	
		
			  Number of work cards issued broken down by nationality of recipient 
			  Nationality  2004  2005  2006 
			 Afghanistan 1 0 0 
			 Albania 146 66 46 
			 Angola 0 0 1 
			 Armenia 47 38 91 
			 Azerbaijan 6 1 1 
			 Bangladesh 7 9 0 
			 Belarus 2,258 1,646 912 
			 Benin 2 1 0 
			 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 0 0 
			 Brazil 0 0 16 
			 Bulgaria 2,456 2,943 3,604 
			 Burkino Faso 0 1 0 
			 Burma (Myanmar) 3 3 0 
			 Burundi 1 1 0 
			 Cameroon 8 11 13 
			 Cape Verde 1 0 0 
			 China 677 0 0 
			 Colombia 1 0 0 
			 Comoros 0 0 1 
			 Congo, Democratic Republic of (formerly Zaire) 0 1 0 
			 Croatia 1 1 0 
			 Egypt 2 0 1 
			 Estonia 76 8 3 
			 Ethiopia 2 1 0 
			 Georgia 76 113 84 
			 Ghana 10 20 31 
			 Hungary 20 0 8 
			 India 84 7 0 
			 Ivory Coast 3 2 0 
			 Kazakhstan 12 5 8 
			 Kenya 8 7 4 
			 Kyrgyzstan 6 5 1 
			 Latvia 594 1 0 
			 Lebanon 3 1 1 
			 Lithuania 961 1 0 
			 Macedonia 96 71 143 
			 Malawi 1 0 1 
			 Mali 0 0 1 
			 Moldova 552 1,028 1,023 
			 Mongolia 74 22 10 
			 Morocco 1 0 0 
			 Nigeria 2 0 1 
			 Not known 817 40 43 
			 Pakistan 5 1 0 
			 Philippines 6 0 0 
			 Poland 1,864 0 0 
			 Romania 1,040 1,882 2,041 
			 Russia 2,301 2,485 2,572 
			 Rwanda 1 0 0 
			 Senegal 1 1 0 
			 Serbia 96 60 99 
			 Sierra Leone 1 1 0 
			 Slovakia 6 0 0 
			 South Africa 1 0 0 
			 Sudan 2 0 0 
			 Syria 1 2 2 
			 Tajikistan 3 1 1 
			 Tanzania 14 9 7 
			 Thailand 0 1 0 
			 Tunisia 0 2 1 
			 Turkey 7 14 1 
			 Turkmenistan 5 24 15 
			 Uganda 8 10 2 
			 Ukraine 6,163 5,036 5,290 
			 Yugoslavia 14 27 94 
			 Zambia 2 0 2 
			 Total 20,557 15,610 16,178 
			  Note: Data are only available from 2004 because that was when central recording of information commenced. The figures exclude extension work cards. 
		
	
	This information is provisional management information and may be subject to change. The data are not National Statistics.

Staffordshire Police

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the performance of Staffordshire police and its ability to tackle crime in Staffordshire.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office has published formal reports relating to the assessment of performance of police forces in England and Wales and of Staffordshire police specifically. The most recent Police Performance Assessments were published in October 2006 covering annual data to March 2006. These assessments combine the robust evaluation of data collected by the force and through the British Crime Survey with the results from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's (HMIC) evidence-based qualitative inspections. Forces are assessed across seven policing areas to provide a thorough, balanced and realistic assessment of its ability to tackle crime and disorder.
	In these assessments Staffordshire gained a 'good' or 'excellent' grading in each of the seven policing performance areas, as demonstrated in the following table
	
		
			  Performance area delivery direction 
			   Assessment 
			 Reducing Crime Good Stable 
			 Investigating Crime Excellent Stable 
			 Promoting Safety Good Stable 
			 Providing Assistance Excellent Stable 
			 Citizen Focus Excellent Improved 
			 Resource Use Excellent Stable 
			 Local Policing Good Stable 
		
	
	The overall delivery grading highlights the force's position in relation to the policing in other forces with similar socio-demographic conditions and indicates that Staffordshire is performing above its peer group. Further detail on these assessments can be found at:
	http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/performance-andmeasurement/performance-assessment/
	Further details on HMIC's assessment of Staffordshire police's ability to tackle crime can be found at:
	http://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmic/inspect_reports1/

Stop and Search: Terrorism

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many searches of  (a) individuals and  (b) vehicles were conducted under the Terrorism Act 2000 by each police force in England and Wales in the last 12 months.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 28 February 2007
	Information on stops and searches under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for 2004-05 (latest available) is given in the table.
	2005-06 data will be available later this year.
	
		
			  Searches of vehicles and occupants under section 44(1) and searches of pedestrians under section 44(2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 by police force area, 2004-05 
			  Number 
			   Stops and searches of vehicles and occupants under s44(1)
			  Police force area  vehicles only( 1)  occupants( 1)  Total  Stops and searches of pedestrians under s44(2)  Stops and searches of occupants [44(1)] and pedestrians [44(2)]  S44(1) and 44(2) total 
			 Avon and Somerset 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bedfordshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 3 4 2 5 6 
			 Cheshire 0 1 1 0 1 1 
			 Cleveland 0 4 4 3 7 7 
			 Cumbria 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Dorset 0 13 13 4 17 17 
			 Durham 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Essex 124 1,424 1,548 2,193 3,617 3,741 
			 Gloucestershire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Greater Manchester 235 621 856 899 1,520 1,755 
			 Hampshire 35 1,413 1,448 315 1,728 1,763 
			 Hertfordshire 0 14 14 0 14 14 
			 Humberside 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Kent 0 114 114 81 195 195 
			 Lancashire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Leicestershire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Lincolnshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 London, City of 21 5,312 5,333 1,173 6,485 6,506 
			 Merseyside 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Metropolitan police 2,935 8,480 11,415 4,206 12,686 15,621 
			 Norfolk 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Northamptonshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Northumbria 40 273 313 68 341 381 
			 North Yorkshire 3 168 171 3 171 174 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Staffordshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Suffolk 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Surrey 5 865 870 73 938 943 
			 Sussex 59 1,469 1,528 1,120 2,589 2,648 
			 Thames Valley 1 60 61 54 114 115 
			 Warwickshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Mercia 0 2 2 0 2 2 
			 West Midlands 0 0 0 1 1 1 
			 West Yorkshire 0 12 12 14 26 26 
			 Wiltshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Dyfed Powys 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 North Wales 0 1 1 0 1 1 
			 South Wales 231 872 1,103 732 1,604 1,835 
			 England and Wales 3,690 21,121 24,811 10,941 32,062 35,752 
			 (1) Searches may be conducted on vehicles only, occupants only or both may be searched. Where a vehicle and driver occupier are searched simultaneously the search is recorded against the driver (occupant). Any other passengers searched are recorded as occupants.  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Terrorism: Compensation

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people claimed compensation for injuries arising from the terrorist attack in London of 7 July 2005; how many such claims have now been concluded by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA); how many interim payments have been made; in how many cases no compensation has yet been paid; and what the highest sum is so far awarded to an individual by the CICA.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 13 March 2007
	The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) advise that, as at 9 March, they had received 573 applications in respect of the London bombings of 7 July 2005. 415 of these applications have been resolved (settled). Of the 158 cases outstanding, 31 have gone to review (the first tier in the two-tier appeals process) or to appeal (the second tier). Of the remaining 127 cases, 90 have had an interim payment, and three cases have been suspended because CICA are unable to contact the claimant. The highest sum awarded so far, in final settlement, was 152,050. Several interim awards have exceeded 100,000 and, once the final medical prognosis has become more certain and the final position regarding special expenses and loss of future earning capacity can be assessed, CICA expect that several final awards will exceed the highest award paid to date.

Tolls: Greater London

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the London congestion charge cameras are connected to the National Automated Number Plate Recognition database.

Tony McNulty: Transport for London congestion charge cameras are not connected to the National Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Data Centre.

War Crimes

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1374W, on war crimes, what issues his Department is reviewing in connection with arrest warrants applications;
	(2)  what external advice his Department has sought in connection with the review of arrest warrant applications;
	(3)  whether his Department's review of arrest warrants will involve public consultation.

Joan Ryan: We have been considering the legal and practical issues relating to the issue of arrest warrants in international cases and in particular those relating to applications by private individuals. We have not yet completed our consideration of these issues. The Government do not have plans for a public consultation and have not sought external advice on the issues under consideration, but we will take full account of all representations received on this matter. Any proposals to change the legislation would be laid before Parliament in the normal way.

Written Questions

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply substantively to questions  (a) 109531,  (b) 109533,  (c) 109534 and  (d) 109535, tabled on 12 December 2006 by the hon. Member for New Forest East, on the investigation into the murder of Georgi Markov.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 22 February 2007
	I replied to the hon. Gentleman on 8 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2163W.

Young Offender Institutions: Mental Health

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number and percentage of prisoners  (a) in the young offender institution (YOI) estate and  (b) in Feltham YOI in 2006 who had been diagnosed with a (i) mental illness and (ii) personality disorder.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is not held centrally.
	In the study Mental Health Needs and Effectiveness of Provision for Young Offenders in Custody and in the Community (Prof. Richard Harrington and Prof. Sue Bailey, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales 2005), 31 per cent. of young offenders were identified as having a mental health problem.

Young Offenders

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the number of young offenders in young offender institutions who are held more than 50 miles from their home; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: As of January 2007, there were 2,647 young offenders in young offender institutions who were held more than 50 miles from their home.
	Where no home address is listed for a young offender the committal court is used as a proxy address.

Young Offenders

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were working for youth offending teams at each June year-end since June 2001 in each youth offending team area; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested for 2004-05 onwards is set out in the following table. Data on YOT staff numbers are collected by the Youth Justice Board. Prior to 2004-05 YOT staff numbers were collected on a full-time equivalent basis and the data are not therefore directly comparable.
	
		
			  YOT staff 
			  Headcount 
			   Total 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Barking and Dagenham 33 74 81 
			 Barnet 26 41 70 
			 Barnsley 85 99 107 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 58 23 60 
			 Bedfordshire 94 86 91 
			 Bexley 31 36 45 
			 Birmingham 630 837 897 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 73 72 70 
			 Blackpool 109 166 119 
			 Blaenau, Gwent and Caerphilly 34 51 110 
			 Bolton 49 101 101 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 91 112 94 
			 Bracknell Forest 35 37 36 
			 Bradford 92 209 197 
			 Brent 35 72 89 
			 Bridgend 56 65 57 
			 Brighton and Hove 39 88 98 
			 Bristol 145 179 271 
			 Bromley 60 54 61 
			 Buckinghamshire 106 110 98 
			 Bury 93 74 74 
			 Calderdale 133 116 108 
			 Cambridgeshire 59 40 48 
			 Camden 57 46 51 
			 Cardiff 172 175 153 
			 Carmarthenshire 29 63 77 
			 Ceredigion  27 48 
			 Cheshire 172 129 158 
			 Conwy and Denbighshire 80 68 63 
			 Cornwall 119 112 131 
			 Coventry 166 150 186 
			 Croydon 167 104 119 
			 Cumbria 129 131 176 
			 Darlington 144 79 78 
			 Derby 233 261 216 
			 Derbyshire 145 178 178 
			 Devon 164 209 240 
			 Doncaster 110 85 88 
			 Dorset 41 46 46 
			 Dudley 119 116 118 
			 Durham 191 189 183 
			 Ealing 51 48 81 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 70 73 69 
			 East Sussex 98 107 126 
			 Enfield 85 43 70 
			 Essex 89 80 220 
			 Flintshire 23 63 60 
			 Gateshead 141 118 113 
			 Gloucestershire 118 90 133 
			 Greenwich 38 37 45 
			 Gwynedd Mon 65 25 46 
			 Hackney 48 47 90 
			 Halton and Warrington 84 65 63 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 55 68 86 
			 Haringey 117 158 128 
			 Harrow 98 79 89 
			 Hartlepool 57 67 59 
			 Havering 65 50 86 
			 Hertfordshire 92 104 106 
			 Hillingdon 55 64 93 
			 Hounslow 85 79 78 
			 Islington 107 59 41 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 43 56 54 
			 Kent 323 446 446 
			 Kingston-upon-Hull 147 89 86 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 13 26 62 
			 Kirklees 151 217 220 
			 Knowsley 79 184 155 
			 Lambeth 149 52 119 
			 Lancashire 447 290 201 
			 Leeds 128 132 284 
			 Leicester City 228 251 233 
			 Leicestershire 71 70 79 
			 Lewisham 51 122 117 
			 Lincolnshire 169 170 168 
			 Liverpool 132 159 163 
			 Luton 74 83 80 
			 Manchester 97 216 211 
			 Medway 69 69 72 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 22 21 20 
			 Merton 66 57 58 
			 Mid Wales 26 0 0 
			 Milton Keynes 43 78 87 
			 Monmouthshire and Torfaen 90 81 77 
			 Neath Port Talbot 55 59 67 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 157 132 149 
			 Newham 74 109 166 
			 Newport 54 63 49 
			 Norfolk 165 145 153 
			 North East Lincolnshire 48 92 83 
			 North Lincolnshire 90 97 90 
			 North Somerset 65 76 76 
			 North Tyneside 59 140 58 
			 North Yorkshire 202 161 167 
			 Northamptonshire 67 166 132 
			 Northumberland 120 76 110 
			 Nottingham 93 279 292 
			 Nottinghamshire 175 219 273 
			 Oldham 153 102 98 
			 Oxfordshire 197 189 186 
			 Pembrokeshire 58 46 52 
			 Peterborough 141 134 147 
			 Plymouth 98 102 117 
			 Powys  38 42 
			 Reading and Wokingham 80 66 62 
			 Redbridge 44 45 49 
			 Rhondda Cynon Taff 88 60 95 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 95 149 92 
			 Rochdale 116 116 112 
			 Rotherham 77 93 90 
			 Salford 129 112 162 
			 Sandwell 48 83 92 
			 Sefton 103 107 114 
			 Sheffield 164 100 100 
			 Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin 124 60 129 
			 Slough 57 57 66 
			 Solihull 74 56 84 
			 Somerset 160 160 191 
			 South Gloucestershire 58 58 54 
			 South Tees 68 120 130 
			 South Tyneside 121 142 142 
			 Southend-on-Sea 22 127 132 
			 Southwark 91 221 227 
			 St. Helens 125 110 110 
			 Staffordshire 164 120 159 
			 Stockport 41 82 80 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 58 65 65 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 140 193 230 
			 Suffolk 217 225 267 
			 Sunderland 93 239 288 
			 Surrey 204 193 195 
			 Sutton 20 125 142 
			 Swansea 58 60 122 
			 Swindon 120 94 86 
			 Tameside 40 133 72 
			 Thurrock 21 50 51 
			 Torbay 54 56 50 
			 Tower Hamlets and City of London 70 69 88 
			 Trafford 52 69 110 
			 Vale of Glamorgan 69 93 69 
			 Wakefield 102 135 139 
			 Walsall 56 72 74 
			 Waltham Forest 29 69 71 
			 Wandsworth 79 97 115 
			 Warwickshire 100 123 118 
			 Wessex 497 449 457 
			 West Berkshire 56 56 66 
			 West Sussex 208 189 249 
			 Westminster 38 45 63 
			 Wigan 172 255 190 
			 Wiltshire 205 238 203 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 15 31 46 
			 Wirral 137 127 147 
			 Wolverhampton 107 103 68 
			 Worcestershire and Herefordshire 205 268 235 
			 Wrexham 19 47 47 
			 York 33 73 89 
			 Total 16,057 18,013 19,356

Young Offenders

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) volunteers,  (b) (i) full-time and (ii) part-time practitioners,  (c) sessional staff,  (d) administrative staff,  (e) managers,  (f) students/trainees and  (g) others were working for youth offending teams at each June year-end since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested for 2004-05 onwards is set out in the following table.
	The YJB collect data on YOT staffing numbers. Prior to 2004-05, YOT staff numbers were collected on a full-time equivalent basis and are not therefore directly comparable.
	
		
			  YOT staff 
			  Headcount 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Managers Strategic 254 257 273 
			 Managers Operational 693 748 779 
			 Senior Practitioner (full-time) 580 506 551 
			 Senior Practitioner (part-time) 82 54 49 
			 Practitioner (full-time) 4,469 4,531 4,789 
			 Practitioner (part-time) 750 810 908 
			 Admin 1,577 1,555 1,592 
			 Sessional 1,457 1,823 1,810 
			 Student 172 268 198 
			 Volunteer 6,023 7,461 8,407 
			 Total 16,057 18,013 19,356

NORTHERN IRELAND

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have been convicted of crimes in which alcohol has been a contributory factor in each of the last three years.

David Hanson: Background information in relation to the commission of an offence is not included in court prosecution and conviction data. Conviction statistics relating to crimes in which alcohol has been a contributory factor are thus not available.

Domestic Violence

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland have been convicted of assault in which the victim was  (a) a female partner,  (b) a male partner and  (c) a child of the convicted person in each of the last three years.

David Hanson: Northern Ireland court proceedings and sentencing data do not currently record the relationship between those who have been convicted of assault and their victims. I anticipate that this information will become available with the development of the Causeway information system.

Domestic Violence

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were rendered homeless in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years as a result of domestic violence.

David Hanson: The number of applicants who specified domestic violence as a reason for presenting as homeless and the number accepted for this reason is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Presented  Awarded 
			 2003-04 684 606 
			 2004-05 727 611 
			 2005-06 798 688 
			 To February 2007 603 546

Northern Ireland Executive: Translation Services

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on translation services by each Northern Ireland Government Department, and its associated agencies, in each of the last six years for which figures are available.

Peter Hain: Details of translation costs for each Northern Ireland Government Department, its associated agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years are provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Breakdown of translations, 2002-03 to 2005-06 
			   
			  Department  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 NIO 123,150.11 115,001.83 257,878.70 527,454.57 
			 DE 98,993.67 119,929.38 37,416.37 37,827.10 
			 DARD 981.49 1,305.36 1,370.98 5,076.85 
			 DEL 4,726.86 11,039.00 12,557.82 232,064.00 
			 DETI 987.68 3,697.68 3,603.36 7,510.19 
			 DFP 177.17 1,898.45 1,958.86 1,498.03 
			 DHSSPS 95,602.11 31,466.55 13,515.01 27,262.66 
			 DOE 296.60 74.95 724.02 16,330.78 
			 DRD (1) 539.04 3,798.99 546.04 
			 DSD 18,183.86 53,913.74 112,612.59 309,871.19 
			 OFMDFM 43,176.87 22,505.61 1,695.36 24,081.60 
			 DCAL 39,718.86 53,652.58 37,403.23 25,183.92 
			 Total 426,013.18 415,024.17 484,535.29 1,214,706.93 
			 (1) Nil return.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what revenue was generated by police speed camera operations in each Police Service of Northern Ireland district command unit area in each of the last six years.

Paul Goggins: The following table outlines the revenue generated each year by the Safety Camera Scheme since its introduction in July 2003. The figures have been broken down by district command unit as requested. Revenue from all fixed penalty notices and conditional offers is paid to the Court Service. However, there is a mechanism to 'Cost Recover' funds generated by the scheme to cover its running costs. Any surplus funds then go to Treasury along with all the other fines received from penalty notices issued outside of the scheme.
	
		
			   
			  DCU area  2003  2004  2005  2006  Total 
			 Antrim DCU 0 540 0 60 600 
			 Armagh DCU 4,980 2,940 3,180 10,500 21,600 
			 Ballymena DCU 10,140 7,740 3,960 3,960 25,800 
			 Ballymoney DCU 600 1,140 1,080 12,420 15,240 
			 Banbridge DCU 39,300 55,920 99,480 67,320 262,020 
			 Belfast East DCU 70,620 101,220 52,920 22,980 247,740 
			 Belfast North DCU 24,360 61,740 42,900 32,280 161,280 
			 Belfast South DCU 6,120 15,180 18,900 14,460 54,660 
			 Belfast West DCU 5,520 17,100 12,180 8,160 42,960 
			 Carrickfergus DCU 5,400 2,940 540 1,860 10,740 
			 Castlereagh DCU 155,880 171,360 111,360 139,200 577,800 
			 Coleraine DCU 900 3,540 5,460 5,520 15,420 
			 Cookstown DCU 420 2,880 9,180 10,740 23,220 
			 Craigavon DCU 1,140 8,640 5,460 23,760 39,000 
			 Down DCU 1,560 14,280 17,040 3,360 36,240 
			 Dungannon DCU 5,580 11,460 20,460 42,420 79,920 
			 Fermanagh DCU 5,640 2,520 6,660 420 15,240 
			 Foyle DCU 7,560 29,400 30,540 14,040 81,540 
			 Lame DCU 0 0 0 1,920 1,920 
			 Limavady DCU 540 840 7,260 5,280 13,920 
			 Lisburn DCU 120 120 780 0 1,020 
			 Magherafelt DCU 4,020 11,040 17,700 10,320 43,080 
			 Moyle DCU 2,100 2,460 540 360 5,460 
			 Newry and Mourne DCU 16,620 79,620 62,280 69,540 228,060 
			 Newtownabbey DCU 360 300 0 60 720 
			 Newtownards DCU 6,180 7,140 9,480 8,640 31,440 
			 North Down DCU 18,060 83,820 51,720 55,560 209,160 
			 Omagh DCU 5,580 18,240 19,140 8,880 51,840 
			 Strabane DCU 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Unknown 540 0 0 180 720 
			 Total 399,840 714,120 610,200 574,200 2,298,360